PHERECLOS · Project

Ready-Made Toolkit to Connect Schools, Universities and Local Industry Through Education Clusters

otherTestedTRL 5Thin data (2/5)

Imagine a neighborhood where the local school, the nearby university, a few companies, and the city museum all team up to teach kids science together — not just in the classroom but everywhere. PHERECLOS set up 6 of these "education clusters" across Europe, gave teachers a practical toolkit for running cross-organization lessons, and created a digital badge system so everyone involved can show they're a trusted learning partner. Think of it like a franchise kit for building local education alliances — tested in 11 countries with 16 organizations.

By the numbers

Local Education Clusters piloted across Europe

30+

Annotated cases of good practice documented

Partner organizations in the consortium

Countries represented in the project

SMEs in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Schools operate in isolation from universities, companies, and community organizations, which means students get a narrow view of science and career paths. Companies investing in local STEM talent pipelines or education-related CSR lack a structured, tested model for building effective partnerships with schools. The result is fragmented efforts that rarely outlast a single initiative.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered a Teacher Training Innovation Toolkit with didactical examples and experiential learning models, a knowledge base of at least 30 annotated cases of good practice in open schooling, a digital OpenBadge ecosystem for credentialing institutions and individuals, and implementation guidelines with policy briefs — all tested through 6 Local Education Clusters across 11 countries.

Audience

Who needs this

EdTech companies building digital badge or micro-credential platformsCorporate CSR and STEM education program managers at large enterprisesEducation consultancies advising schools or municipalities on reformChildren's museums and science centers seeking structured school partnershipsRegional development agencies investing in local education ecosystems

Business applications

Who can put this to work

EdTech and Digital Credentialing

SME

Target: Companies developing digital badge or micro-credential platforms

If you are an EdTech company building digital credentialing tools — this project developed an OpenBadge ecosystem that labels institutions as reliable education partners and certifies individual STEAM achievements in formal and non-formal settings. The system was piloted across 6 regional clusters in 11 countries with 16 partner organizations. You could integrate or license the badge architecture to expand your platform into the school-university-industry credentialing space.

Corporate Training and CSR

enterprise

Target: Large corporations with STEM education or workforce pipeline programs

If you are a company investing in local STEM talent pipelines or corporate social responsibility in education — this project created a tested model for building Local Education Clusters that bring together schools, universities, and businesses. The model comes with implementation guidelines, policy briefs, and at least 30 annotated cases of good practice from across Europe. You could adopt this as a turnkey approach to structure your community education engagement.

Education Consulting

SME

Target: Consultancies advising schools or municipalities on education reform

If you are an education consultancy helping schools or local governments modernize their teaching approach — this project produced a Teacher Training Innovation Toolkit with didactical examples and models for experiential learning across formal and non-formal settings. It was tested through 6 pilot regions with peer mentoring support. You could use this toolkit to offer structured open-schooling transformation services to your clients.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement this in our organization?

The project was a Coordination and Support Action, so outputs (toolkits, guidelines, case studies) are publicly available through the project website. Implementation costs would depend on your scale, but the model is designed for local adaptation without heavy infrastructure — the main investment is coordination time and teacher training.

Can this scale beyond the 6 pilot regions?

The project explicitly produced implementation guidelines and policy briefs to support replication. With 30+ annotated cases of good practice and a peer mentoring program design, the model is built for transfer. It was tested across 11 countries with very different education systems, which suggests adaptability.

What about IP and licensing for the OpenBadge system or toolkit?

Based on available project data, the OpenBadge ecosystem and Teacher Training Toolkit were developed as project deliverables under EU funding, which typically requires open access. Specific licensing terms should be confirmed with the coordinator, Kinderbüro Universität Wien.

Is there evidence this actually changed how schools operate?

The project ran 6 Local Education Clusters as real pilot testbeds, with academic transfer and implementation research monitoring their impact. The deliverables include annotated cases documenting what worked. However, long-term institutional change beyond the project period is not documented in the available data.

How does the digital badge system work technically?

Based on available project data, the OpenBadge ecosystem labels institutions as reliable and responsive actors in the education cluster and certifies individual STEAM engagement achievements in formal, non-formal, and informal learning settings. Technical architecture details would need to be obtained from the project team.

Who is the coordinator and can we contact them?

The coordinator is Kinderbüro Universität Wien GmbH, an SME based in Austria that specializes in children's university programs. They have experience as intermediaries between universities and the wider community. SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction.

Consortium

Who built it

The 16-partner consortium spans 11 countries with a strong academic core (8 universities) and limited industry presence (2 industry partners, 12% industry ratio). The coordinator is Kinderbüro Universität Wien, an Austrian SME specializing in children's university programs — a credible intermediary but not a commercial scaling engine. With 4 SMEs and 5 "other" organizations (likely NGOs, municipalities, or foundations), this is a classic education-innovation consortium designed for piloting and policy influence rather than market deployment. A business looking to commercialize these outputs would likely need to bring its own go-to-market capability.

KINDERBURO UNIVERSITAT WIEN GMBHCoordinator · AT
UNIWERSYTET SLASKI W KATOWICACHparticipant · PL
UNIVERSITAT WIENparticipant · AT
SYNYO GmbHparticipant · AT
MERSIN UNIVERSITESIparticipant · TR
KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITETparticipant · DK
S.I.S.S.A. MEDIALAB SRLparticipant · IT
EUROPEAN SCHOOL HEADS ASSOCIATIONparticipant · NL
POLITECHNIKA LODZKAparticipant · PL
UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTOparticipant · PT
UNIVERSITAET INNSBRUCKparticipant · AT

How to reach the team

Kinderbüro Universität Wien GmbH (Austria) — SciTransfer can facilitate introduction

Order a report on this consortium See KINDERBURO UNIVERSITAT WIEN GMBH profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how the PHERECLOS open schooling model or OpenBadge system could fit your education or CSR strategy? SciTransfer can connect you with the project team and help assess fit.

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