The BioS4YOU project: how Science Education can enhance student capacity to be participatory citizens in a transforming world

Recent studies evidence the need to engage students at all levels in Science to boost the supply of a skilled scientific workforce and knowledgeable citizenry. The “Bio-Inspired STEM topics for engaging young generations” (BioS4YOU) project, funded by the European Union within the Erasmus+ KA2 Innovation program, aims to bridge the gap between the STEM national curricula (which mostly include basic contents of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and the needs of Z-generation students, apathetic/uninterested to basic themes, but enthusiastic in issues related to environmental, social, and health concerns. The main goal of the BioS4You project is to engage European young learners in STEM subjects, starting with current issues of interest for them, as the social and environmental impact of new technologies (Bio-Sciences, Bio-Engineering, Bio- Architecture, Bio-Technology, Bio-Photonics, etc) to open their minds, achieve higher competencies. These topics will pique the interest of young people, making them more aware of concepts very relevant for their future as sustainability, accessibility, biodiversity, self-regulation, social behavior, and development. Furthermore, the knowledge of these contents will make the students feel an active part of the technological innovation (and not just passive users) and will help them to build a better future, bringing them closer to the STEM world and enabling them to make more informed choices for their future careers. In this contribution, we present the BioS4YOU project and the results obtained in the first year of its activity. In particular, we discuss the process followed to identify the “hot topics” and the pedagogical scenarios to be adopted to create suitable learning units, able to increase student ability to solve real-life problems. Keywords: