Touching the Sky: how three school communities are turning STEM into a bridge of hope

At IIS “Ciampini-Boccardo” in Novi Ligure, Italy, we have been working for years to show our students that science is not only a subject to study, but also a way to connect with the world, to ask questions, and to imagine a different future.

From this vision, an international educational project was born: “Touching the Sky – Generation STEM 2026.”

This initiative brings together STEM education, international school cooperation, innovation, and attention to Afghan girls' right to education. It connects our school in Italy, Wallace High School in Stirling, Scotland, and Learn Afghan, building a shared educational pathway among young people who live in very different contexts, but who are united by the same curiosity for science, space and the future.

The project will culminate in the launch of a stratospheric balloon carrying a scientific and symbolic payload developed with the direct involvement of students. But the heart of the initiative is much wider than the launch itself. Around this mission, we are building an educational journey made of seminars, shared activities, digital content, podcasting, student participation and intercultural dialogue.

One of the most meaningful aspects of this project is that Afghan girls are not involved symbolically or from a distance. They are active participants. They take part through their reflections, their creative work, their questions and their voices. In this way, STEM becomes not just a technical pathway, but also a space of visibility, dignity and inclusion.

A particularly significant element of the mission will be a microSD card placed inside the payload. It will carry messages, texts, drawings and creative contributions from the students involved in the project. For us, this is not just a technical detail. It is a powerful symbol: we want these young people's words and dreams to “touch the sky” alongside the scientific mission itself.

We have also opened this opportunity to younger students in our local middle schools, through a special form created by our small Generation STEM team. In this way, the project becomes a wider community experience, allowing more young people to take part in something that combines science, imagination and participation.

The project is already alive through a series of international events.

We recently held an online seminar with Dr Andrea Bernagozzi from the Astronomical Observatory of the Aosta Valley, dedicated to constellations and to how the sky can be seen and interpreted through different cultures. It was a deeply meaningful moment, because it brought together, under the same sky, a student from Novi Ligure, a student from Stirling and a girl from Kabul. Different lives, different backgrounds, different cultural lenses — and yet one common wonder.

You can watch that seminar here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Q_j1mTCJM

In the coming days, our three school communities will meet again for another important moment: a seminar on space exploration with Dr Mario Musmeci from the Italian Space Agency. Students from Italy, Scotland and Afghanistan will once again be together, ready to ask questions and share their passion for science and space.

We also recently received confirmation of our participation in Arduino Days, a global event celebrating open technology and creativity. Our students presented a video of their STEM activities, and we chose to include in that work the contribution of our Afghan colleague Husna Kargar from Learn Afghan together with the work of her students. It was a simple but meaningful way to celebrate participation, visibility and collaboration across borders.

Another very important moment for our school will come at the end of April, when Pashtana Durrani, the Afghan education activist and founder of Learn Afghan, will come to Italy as part of her World Tour to speak about girls' right to education and the condition of Afghan women. She will visit our school, giving our students the opportunity to listen directly to a voice of courage, leadership and hope.

What matters most to us is that “Touching the Sky” is not only a STEM project. It is also a way of showing that science can become a bridge between cultures, that education can create dignity and belonging, and that young people can be made protagonists of something that is at once scientific, symbolic and deeply human.

In a time when so many girls in Afghanistan are denied the right to study, we want our students to understand that knowledge is not neutral: it can also be an act of solidarity, recognition and hope.

If any educators, schools or communities around the world would like to connect with this experience, we would be very glad to hear from them.

And if anyone would also like to support the project, it is possible to symbolically “come on board” with a small donation — even just 2 euros — to send one's name skyward and help us complete the final phase of this school mission, which still needs around 2,000 euros to cover its remaining costs.

Event link:

https://www.eventbrite.it/e/1985189281581?aff=oddtdtcreator

You can also follow the project on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@GenerationSTEM

Prof. Corrado Campisi

IIS “Ciampini-Boccardo” – Novi Ligure, Italy