Over 60 experts, educators, researchers, policymakers and other representatives of the public and private sector, from 17 countries, gathered in Patras, Greece, in person and online, for the International Conference on Inclusive STEAM Education, in the framework of the “Special Education STEAM Academy-SpicE” European project. The two-day hybrid event was implemented on 30-31 May 2025 at the headquarters of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) in Patras, was organized by the DAISSy Research Group – HOU, SpicE Coordinator, attracted more than 700 participants in total, and focused on advancing Inclusive STEAM Education across Europe. SpicE project was implemented under the Scientific Coordination of Achilles Kameas, Dean of the School of Science and Technology of HOU,  Director of DAISSy Research Group, and has marked a milestone in the efforts of the educational community to bridge the gap between STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and special education.

More precisely, SpicE supports the inclusion of students with mild learning difficulties in STEAM education. Its core objective is to strengthen the competences of primary school teachers in delivering inclusive STEAM learning experiences. By equipping pre-service and in-service educators with the right tools and methodologies, SpicE aims to create classrooms that are inclusive, innovative, accessible, and equitable.

The conference offered a dynamic agenda, including plenary sessions by experts, discussion panels, and presentations of real-life use cases by in-service educators. Discussions covered a wide range of topics—from inclusive educational Robotics and AI tools, to digital learning environments, art-based inclusion practices, and teacher training strategies.

The highlights of the conference include:

• The presentations of the STEAMComp InclEdu Competences Framework, the methodologies for STEAM teacher training from an inclusive perspective, and the SpicE Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), all of which support the training of educators and provide structured guidance for developing inclusive teaching competences in STEAM education.
• The decision to found the Inclusive STEAM Alliance, presenting the evolution of the SpicE Community of Practice.
• Showcases of good practices in Inclusive STEAM Education from educators and researchers from (in alphabetical order) Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, India, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye, and underlining how inclusive pedagogy can be embedded into current curricula.
• Dedicated synergy sessions with other innovative European projects and networks working for the promotion of Inclusive Education and STEM/STEAM Educations, such as the SEER, ICSE Academy, SENSEI, STEAME Academy, EQUI-T, STEAMbrace, and Road-STEAMer European projects.

A common message emerged during the conference, i.e.  Inclusion and STEAM must be at the heart of innovation in education. By empowering educators and integrating inclusive strategies into STEAM, the SpicE project contributes to build learning environments favoring all students to thrive, regardless of their learning needs.

More information about the SpicE project of DAISSy-HOU :

• Websites: https://daissy.eu/projects/spice/,   http://eu
• Facebook: @SpicEAcademyEU
• Χ (Twitter):  @SpicEAcademyEU