European Platform for Educational Robotics and Computational Thinking Launched

With its new Community of Practice, the European ERTA (European Robotics Teachers’ Academy) project is creating a framework for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and professional development in the fields of educational robotics and computational thinking. The goal is to bring together teachers, teacher educators, researchers, education policymakers, and other stakeholders in education who wish to promote digital competencies in various educational contexts.

Co-funded by the European Union, the project brings together universities, research centers, schools, and other organizations from several European countries. Representing the Hector Institute in this initiative are Assistant Professor Dr. Katerina Tsarava, Dr. Nina Udvardi-Lakos, Dr. Tim Fütterer, and Christina Michels.

The Community of Practice is conceived as an open space for the development and exchange of innovative pedagogical approaches. Plans include international webinars, in-person and online workshops, thematic discussion forums, as well as collaborative challenges and co-creation activities. In addition, educational resources for teacher training will be developed and shared.

Thematically, the offerings focus, among other things, on:

The first activities will begin as early as July 2026 with the workshop “Computational Thinking and Robotics: Coding to Develop Competences,” organized by two Portuguese project partners. The pre-registration phase for the Community of Practice has already begun. Anyone interested is cordially invited to register.

The official kick-off event will take place on September 17 and 18, 2026, at Universidade Aberta in Lisbon. There, the partners of the ERTA consortium will come together to officially launch the Community of Practice and present the upcoming activities. Afterward, all pre-registered individuals will receive a link to access the CoP platform, where they can complete their registration and participate in all CoP activities.

Through the Community of Practice, the ERTA project aims to build, over the long term, a European network of professionals committed to using innovative pedagogical methods and promoting digital competencies in schools, vocational training, and continuing education.

Those interested can visit the project website to learn about current activities, participate in events, and subscribe to the project’s newsletter.

ERTA Project Website  To the ERTA Community of Practice