BetterGeoEdu 2.0

Scope

With a growing population and an emerging middle class, our need for raw materials has never been bigger. New technologies have sparked interest for several new minerals and metals, critical in the production of, for example, batteries, electric motors and green energy. These critical raw materials have one thing in common: they are all in the ground.  

Today, exploration and mining in the European union is small in comparison to our consumption of raw materials. Resistance versus mining activities can be strong, even in countries with larger mining industries and a traditional background on mining activities, making sustainable operations harder to achieve due to social conflict. The debate around mining is often lacking knowledge - many times due to low public awareness about geology and sustainable mining. To work towards public awareness, we must start early by raising knowledge and interest about raw materials and geology.

BetterGeoEdu 2.0 is a project that targets primary schools to work with wider society learning for raw materials. BetterGeoEdu will develop educational material about raw materials using BetterGeo – a modification of the immensely popular game Minecraft. Cooperation with teachers, museums, geoparks, and activity centers will result in train-the-trainer programmes as well as freely available exercises and instructions for teachers. BetterGeoEdu brings a unique and innovative way of teaching raw materials to primary schools using an already well-known and loved game.