“Modern Education in Science for Industry 4.0” was a two year international project with an extension of one year due to the restrictions of COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of the project was to open education and innovative practices in the digital era, in which current trends of data exchange, the internet, cloud computing, STEM contents (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) were integrated in the field of Industry 4.0. 

MESI 4.0 was a cooperation of four schools: Gymnazium Teplice (Czech Republic), Colegio La Salle-Buen Consejo (Spain), Geswichte Schole Bremerhaven (Germany) and Didzdvario gymnasium (Lithuania). The team of teachers included educators from different backgrounds and curricular experience in STEM subjects, English and Geography. Equal opportunities to participate were given to students aged from 14 to 18 years. 

In order to meet project objectives, many activities and outputs were carried out. The project involved two short  term exchanges of groups of pupils: one to Bemerhaven (Germany) in March 2019 and the next to Puerto Real (Spain) in September 2019. Students  did research and debated how renewable energy, wind and solar energy, could help to sustainable development of Industry 4.0. 

The project was affected by COVID-19. The short term exchange of students planned for April 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic and it was impossible to implement it later, even though the project was prolonged for one year. Instead of this mobility of students, a virtual meeting was held in December 2020. The theme of this virtual meeting was water treatment and hydropower energy. Students presented the research conducted in each country about the industry of their regions. Technical visits and management activities were done at the end of the project in a teachers’ transnational project meeting in Lithuania in August 2021.

The title of the students´ final project was “Industry 4.0 for the Sustainable World (chemical industry, water treatment and hydropower, renewable energy source wind, renewable energy source solar)”.

The project methodology was based on a problem-solving approach, the performance of experiments and data analysis obtained through the use of specialized scientific software. Students and teachers used cloud computing software for sharing, structuring, combining, communicating and presenting the results of their research. They also participated in bilateral webinars with the aim of acquiring knowledge about their schools, cities, countries, educational system and the industry of the region of each project partner.

A hand-on methodology used during the mobilities was implemented with methodology sheets and worksheets. Students participated in technical visits to universities, research centres and factories to connect their theoretical knowledge with innovative research. Those worksheets and implementation documents that integrate a modern STEM curriculum in Industry 4.0 are open to be used widely in the webpage of the project (www.mesi4.eu), the eTwinning Twinspace of the project and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform. All this information is summarized  in the brochure and poster created for its dissemination.

The project improved students' and teachers' digital, communicative and critical thinking and their skills and competences. It extended the national curricula related to STEM contents, providing them with better opportunities to continue their study in the third level of education or in practice.