The Poly-Universe in Preschool and Lower Primary School Education (EARLY-POLY) project’s international partners convened in September 2025 for a in-person working session. The meeting was hosted by our French partner, the Espace de l’Art Concret (EAC), in the beautiful setting of Mouans-Sartoux, France. This gathering brought together the full consortium, including the coordinator, Eszterhazy Karoly Katolikus Egyetem (Hungary), Poly-Universe Ltd. (Hungary), Universitatea Crestina Partium (Romania), and our own team from Experience Workshop (Finland).
Intensive work sessions were placed across the three days. We focused on strategies for developing professional development workshops, teacher training curriculum and educational plans for preschool and lower primary schools which are included in our Early-Poly methodology book. A highlight of this collaboration was a special session on “Best Practices,” presented by János Szász Saxon, the artist creator of the Poly-Universe toolkit. János presented practices combining natural materials and the mathematical art of Poly-Universe sets.
Another best practices were developed and shared with us by educators Krisztina Czinkiné Mészáros from Szokolya Village Börzsöny Gyöngye Kindergarten and the EAC’s own educational team, Justine Capron and Amandine Briand. This “in-class” activity development was critical for forming the project’s next steps and ensuring our methodological study is grounded in authentic classroom experience.
Art foundation and meeting building of Espace de l’Art Concret (EAC)
The EAC team led us on guided museum visits and tours of their exhibitions, including “Gottfried Honegger, from Singular to Plural,” “Highway Hypnosis” by Annika Katja Boll, and “364 Seasons of Lamarche & Ovize.” Discussing pedagogical strategies surrounded by world-class concrete art reminded us that art and logical-mathematical thinking are deeply intertwined.
One of the visits led us to observe a group of young children and their childcare assistants in EAC’s art facility in Mouans-Sartoux as they tested the Poly-Universe game and participated in art classes.
The evenings were spent together in beautiful sites at the art residency la Napoule with the possibility to swim in a sea right next to the foundation and Dragon Hill artists and writers residency. The last afternoon was concluded with a friendly France vs. Hungary pétanque tournament. You can guess who won!
Next year we have the pleasure to host all the project partners here in Jyväskylä in May 2026 for a dissemination event of this 2-years project.
Erasmus+ KA220-SCH-EA37DE32
Coordinator: ESZTERHAZY KAROLY KATOLIKUS EGYETEM, Hungary, www.uni-eszterhazy.hu
Partner organizations:
POLY-UNIVERSE Ltd., Hungary, www.poly-universe.com
EXPERIENCE WORKSHOP OY, Finland, www.experienceworkshop.org
Universitatea Crestina Partium, Romania, www.partium.ro
ESPACE DE L’ART CONCRET, France, www.espacedelartconcret.fr
The project (KA220-SCH-EA37DE32) is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Maximum grant amount: 400 000 EUR. Project period: 1 October 2024 – 31 December 2026.
This project relies on the results of the Poly-Universe in Teacher Education (PUNTE) Erasmus+ (2020-2023) and Poly-Universe in School Education (PUSE) Erasmus+ project (2017-2019).
