Interactions between Schools and Universities: The Example of Lab2go in Calabria

Recent research emphasizes the need for a more sustained interaction of schools with universities and research institutions. For example, informal after-school programs integrated into the school curriculum can provide opportunities for meaningful interaction with researchers in active learning settings. At the physics department of University of Calabria it has been launched in 2016 a program aimed at recovering disused, and in several cases ancient, instrumentation in laboratories of some schools in the region of Calabria. In 2022, our local project merged into Lab2go, a national project of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) (Lab2go; https://web.infn.it/lab2go/) and of University of Rome "La Sapienza" devoted to the enrichment of the laboratory activities of the schools. Lab2go involves a steadily increasing number of schools and has expanded to include chemistry, robotics and other subjects. This contribution discusses some didactic activities developed within Lab2go. The activities of Lab2go are integrated and form part of the (formal) school curriculum as work based experiences, which have become mandatory during the last three years of secondary schools. Thus, this project is an example of how specific policy interventions can lead to the kind of long-term structured collaboration between schools and research institutions needed to favor the shift of focus in science education. [For the full proceedings, see ED656038.]