The Science Congress is the largest continuing education event for teachers in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Open to all science and geography teachers in secondary education from all school systems, the Science Conference brings together approximately 100 participants each year who are eager to update their knowledge and keep their teaching practices in step with scientific advances.
Over the years, the Congress has established itself as a premier forum for learning, reflection, and sharing. Its program combines high-level scientific lectures, educational and instructional presentations, laboratory sessions, hands-on workshops, and field trips. Beyond expanding participants’ knowledge, the event also offers teachers a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences from the classroom, compare perspectives, and collectively enhance their professional practices.
Organized on a rotating basis by the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Science Congress was hosted in 2026 by the University of Liège and coordinated by Réjousciences, ULiège’s science and technology outreach unit.
It was in a lecture hall at the University of Liège—host of the 2026 edition—that Valérie Henry (UNamur), president of the Mathematics Congress, officially launched the Science and Mathematics Congresses. Speaking to a large audience of teachers of mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, and geography, she opened an edition dedicated to sharing and interdisciplinarity. This year, a fortunate coincidence in the schedule allowed the Science and Mathematics Congresses to be held simultaneously, in the same city, and on the same dates. This presented a unique opportunity to bring together teaching communities from different disciplines through joint activities, shared workshops, and, above all, an opening lecture attended by all participants. It was a wonderful way to foster exchanges, exchange perspectives, and strengthen ties between the various branches of science education.
Under the theme “Education in Transition,” the conference invited participants to reflect on the profound transformations currently reshaping the world of education. This theme echoed many of the challenges teachers face on a daily basis: the implementation of core curriculum reform, the rise of digital technology and artificial intelligence, the socio-ecological transition, and society’s changing expectations of schools. In the face of these changes, teaching practices must evolve and reinvent themselves. The conference provided teachers with a unique space for reflection, discussion, and experimentation, enabling them to better understand these systemic shifts and collectively explore innovative, sustainable, and deeply human educational responses.
Several researchers and experts from UNamur also contributed to the Science Congress program by offering activities on a variety of topics, thereby fostering exchanges between the worlds of research and education.
During the opening conference, Olivier Sartenaer (UNamur), alongside Myriam De Kesel (UCLouvain) and Michel Rigo (ULiège), addressed the challenges of teaching critical thinking in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI tools sometimes seem to think, argue, or make decisions on students’ behalf, this raises numerous questions for the world of education. How can we encourage young people to develop their critical thinking skills and intellectual autonomy while taking advantage of these new technologies? How can we teach them to use these tools with discernment? These were among the reflections that the three speakers shared and discussed with the teachers in the audience.
During his presentation, Olivier Sartenaer emphasized the importance of training teachers in critical thinking so that they, in turn, can pass on this essential skill to their students. While science-specific teacher training programs do not always give these issues significant attention, UNamur stands out by integrating the history and philosophy of science, as well as the development of critical thinking, into the core of its students’ education. This approach helps prepare future teachers to guide their students in understanding and analyzing contemporary scientific issues.
Also on the topic of AI, Michaël Lobet and Miguël Dhyne (UNamur) presented AI Score, a tool developed at UNamur to objectively evaluate the performance of various educational chatbots. Based on a comparative study of solutions such as ChatGPT, Copilot, NotebookLM, Grok, Mistral, and Amanote, this metric analyzes, in particular, the accuracy, robustness, and self-correction capabilities of conversational agents. The results highlight significant differences among the tools tested and underscore the importance of critical and appropriate use of AI in teaching and learning contexts.
Nephtali Callaerts, a doctoral student in chemistry education, presented the results of a study conducted among 242 science teachers in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation on adapting chemistry curriculum content to real-world circumstances. Faced with time constraints, unforeseen circumstances, or changes in the curriculum, teachers are forced to make choices about which topics to prioritize. The study highlights the changes made to the content taught, as well as the criteria that lead certain pieces of knowledge to be considered essential, thereby offering concrete insight into the practices and challenges of teaching chemistry. Nephtali Callaerts emphasizes that events, such as the Science Congress, provide valuable opportunities to strengthen the dialogue between teachers and educational researchers—exchanges that are still too rare but essential.
“The Science Conference is a must-attend event for researchers in the field of educational science. Opportunities to meet teachers in person and discuss recent advances in educational research with them are still relatively rare, which makes this type of event particularly valuable.”
In the field of biology, Frédéric Silvestre led a workshop on epigenetics, providing teachers with an update on this rapidly evolving discipline. His presentation covered the fundamental mechanisms of epigenetics, the scientific issues it raises—particularly from the perspectives of evolution and the environment—as well as the techniques associated with it. He also highlighted the expectations and challenges associated with the transition from secondary to higher education in biology.
The University of Namur is a major player in continuing education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Through programs designed for teachers who wish to deepen their skills, specialize, or advance their careers, it actively contributes to lifelong professional development.
This program is complemented by the Salle des Pros, which opened in 2023 and brings together four specialized centers for continuing education. Among them, CEFOSCIM (Center for Continuing Education in Science and Mathematics) supports secondary school teachers in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and geography. Serving as a true bridge between research and classroom practice, the center offers training, resources, and teaching tools tailored to the realities of the classroom.
As the start of the 2026 school year approaches and the core curriculum takes effect in 7th grade, a new topic is being introduced in science classes: natural resources as raw materials.
This new topic invites students to explore the natural resources found on the Earth’s surface, such as rocks, minerals, and soils. By observing their characteristics and properties—as well as those of certain metals—students will come to understand the various stages of material transformation. The goal is also to raise their awareness of environmental issues related to resource consumption and to help them identify ways to reduce its impacts, based on a life-cycle analysis of materials.
To support teachers in adopting this new curriculum, UNamur is launching the training program “Journey to the Center of Natural Resources as Raw Materials.” This program offers a gradual immersion into the world of rocks, minerals, soils, and metals, combining scientific insights, hands-on workshops, pedagogical reflections, and a field trip to the Namur Citadel. The goal is to provide teachers with up-to-date knowledge and practical tools to approach this new subject in an active, engaging, and relevant way with their students.