LUMA Centre Finland is pleased to announce that the BLUE-TEACH project (Blue Competence in Teacher Education: Finland-Indonesia Partnership for STEAM, AI, and Sustainable Learning) has been awarded funding through the Team Finland Knowledge (TFK) Programme in 2026.
The project brings together leading teacher education institutions from Finland and Indonesia to develop innovative approaches that connect sustainability, STEAM education, artificial intelligence, and real-world learning environments in teacher education.
The project is coordinated by the University of Helsinki and LUMA Centre Finland in partnership with the University of Jyväskylä, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS), and Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji (UMRAH). Over the course of the project, the partners will co-design and implement a joint 5 ECTS teacher education module comprising 15 thematic units aligned with the European BlueComp competence framework. The materials will be integrated into both pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes in Finland and Indonesia, ensuring long-term impact beyond the project period.
Why Blue Competence Matters
As climate change, biodiversity loss, marine pollution, and sustainable resource management increasingly shape our societies, education systems need new ways of preparing learners for these challenges. The European BlueComp framework provides a competence model for understanding the relationship between people, water systems, oceans, coastal environments, and sustainable development. It emphasises systems thinking, environmental responsibility, innovation, community engagement, and informed decision-making related to marine and aquatic environments.
Despite the growing importance of blue sustainability issues, blue competences remain only partially embedded in teacher education and school curricula worldwide. BLUE-TEACH addresses this gap by translating the BlueComp framework into practical learning modules, pedagogical models, and digital resources that can be applied across educational contexts.
The project partners believe that BlueComp should become an integral component of sustainability education at all levels of education, from early childhood education to higher education and lifelong learning. Likewise, teacher education must equip future educators with the competencies needed to guide learners in understanding the interconnected challenges of oceans, freshwater systems, climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental stewardship. These themes connect naturally with STEM, STEAM, AI-supported inquiry, and phenomenon-based learning approaches that are central to modern education.
Finland and Indonesia Learning Together
Indonesia offers a uniquely valuable context for developing blue competences. As the world’s largest archipelagic nation, comprising more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia faces significant challenges and opportunities related to marine ecosystems, coastal communities, fisheries, sustainable development, and climate adaptation. BLUE-TEACH enables Finnish and Indonesian educators to learn from one another while developing globally relevant educational models rooted in local realities.
The project combines Finnish expertise in research-based teacher education, STEAM pedagogy, curriculum design, and digital learning with Indonesian strengths in community-based learning, maritime education, and contextual sustainability challenges. Through intensive teaching periods, hybrid learning, and joint curriculum development, the partnership aims to create educational solutions that are both internationally relevant and locally meaningful.
Professor Jan Lundell, Director of LUMA Centre Finland and project coordinator, highlights the strategic importance of the collaboration:
“LUMA Centre Finland has a long tradition of international cooperation in STEM education and teacher education. Indonesia is a particularly important partner because it is the world’s largest archipelago and faces many of the sustainability challenges that will increasingly affect societies globally. By working together, Finnish and Indonesian educators can develop new educational approaches that connect science, sustainability, technology, and local communities.”
“BLUE-TEACH provides an excellent opportunity to bring Blue Competence into teacher education and to prepare future teachers to address complex socio-ecological challenges through interdisciplinary and research-based pedagogies.”
Looking Ahead
The BLUE-TEACH project will run from 2026 to 2028 and produce a jointly developed international teacher education module, open digital learning resources, and an electronic handbook for teacher educators. Through curriculum integration, large-scale participation of teacher students and educators, and collaboration between higher education institutions, the project seeks to establish a sustainable model for embedding BlueComp competencies into teacher education and sustainability education in both Finland and Indonesia.
References
European Commission. (2024). BlueComp: The European framework for ocean sustainability competence. Publications Office of the European Union
Finnish National Agency for Education. (2026). Team Finland Knowledge programme.