The second phase of the in-depth meeting of the European Erasmus+ ENIGMATHICO project was held in Pierre de Fermat’s birthplace and brought together partners from five countries: Greece, Poland, France, Belgium and Romania, including several teachers.
The main objective of this three-day session was twofold: to validate a key stage of the project and to follow up on future actions. The atmosphere, although studious, managed to combine the seriousness of the educational challenge with the warmth of intercultural exchanges.
Test phase: Validation of enigmas boxes
The first highlight of the event was devoted to testing and evaluating the maths enigma boxes developed by the partners. These original educational tools link mathematics and science to major contemporary societal issues such as cybersecurity, water management, health, robotics, space exploration and ecology.
Participants, including teachers, tested the puzzles collectively in order to provide constructive feedback. This rigorous process aimed to validate the content, educational relevance and feasibility of the classroom activities, or, where necessary, to suggest specific areas for improvement. This pooling of work is essential for the advancement of this stage in the creation of educational tools. The presence of two French departmental educational advisers in regional modern languages and foreign modern languages also enabled consideration to be given to the linguistic and cultural adaptation of the tools. The president of the Fermat Science organisation also made himself available for the occasion, providing an additional and significant mathematical perspective at this stage of the project.
Project monitoring
The second part of the meeting consisted of a comprehensive follow-up meeting. Around the table, the partners drew up a detailed assessment of the achievements completed, identified the remaining tasks and planned the next steps of the ENIGMATHICO project. These direct exchanges were very beneficial in harmonising efforts and ensuring the consistency of transnational actions.
Team cohesion and friendly exchanges
Beyond the formal working sessions, these few days provided an opportunity for less formal exchanges. Joint lunches and dinners provided an ideal setting for informal dialogue. These moments of conviviality allowed the European partners to get to know each other better on a personal level and significantly strengthened the cohesion of the entire team, an essential factor in the success of a transnational project of this scale. In short, this in-depth meeting in Beaumont-de-Lomagne was a decisive step forward for the ENIGMATHICO project. It helped consolidate the tool design phase while reaffirming the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that drives the teams involved in promoting mathematics and science among young people.
