The XarMet project will install 100 weather stations in educational centres across the Balearics

The XarMet project brings environmental monitoring, data literacy and scientific research into the classroom.

Schools will maintain the stations, use the collected data for educational purposes, and take part in the project’s training and outreach activities.

A total of 100 weather stations will be progressively installed in educational centres throughout the Balearic Islands as part of XarMet, a citizen science and data-based learning initiative that promotes collaborative work between the education system and the University of the Balearic Islands.

XarMet is an educational and scientific project with a medium-term plan that promotes the pedagogical use of real environmental data through the installation of weather stations in schools. The project brings environmental monitoring, data culture and scientific research into the classroom, and encourages the development of STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) linked to citizen science and the local territory.

The initiative is made possible thanks to the support of the First Vice-Presidency and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Innovation, with the participation of the Balearic Agency for Digitalisation, Cybersecurity and Telecommunications (IB Digital) and the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). The project is coordinated by the UIB’s Espai COTIB, in collaboration with CEP IBSTEAM, an institutional alliance that brings together technological, scientific and educational capacities and ensures the scalability of the project across the entire archipelago.

The rollout of XarMet will take place over three academic years. During the current school year, a first phase will begin with the participation of 20 educational centres, distributed across the different islands, which will become the first nodes of the network. From February onwards, these centres will start implementing the project in their educational contexts, while up to 80 additional centres will join in later phases.

Schools interested in joining the XarMet network (in the first phase) may apply to participate in the project between 12 and 25 January. Participation involves a commitment to install and maintain the weather station, use the collected data for educational purposes, and actively take part in the project’s training and dissemination activities within the educational community.

The stations will make it possible to collect real data on temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation and solar radiation. These data will be made available to schools through an open-data digital platform promoted by Espai COTIB. This tool will facilitate real-time visualisation of environmental information, comparison of data from different locations across the Balearic Islands, and the development of inter-school educational projects.

The project is complemented by specific training for primary and secondary school teachers, as well as vocational education instructors. This training has been jointly created and designed by IBSTEAM and Espai COTIB and will take place during the second term of the academic year in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. The programme will equip teachers to interpret environmental data and design STEAM projects based on environmental monitoring, and will culminate in the active participation of schools in the Ciència per Tothom 2026 events.

Through XarMet, educational centres become active spaces for knowledge generation and participation in citizen science initiatives, while also contributing to a better understanding of the territory and current environmental challenges, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.