Reflecting on a Year of CARS

As we step into 2025, the CARS Project EU team is taking a moment to reflect on an incredible first year of collaboration, creativity, and innovation. From the moment we kicked off the project in December 2023, we’ve been driven by a shared mission: to empower children as creators of their own Augmented Reality stories through language learning.

In just over a year, our consortium of passionate educators, researchers, and technologists has worked across borders to build something truly transformative. Let’s take a look back at the journey so far.

The Year in Review

Project Launch in Malta (January 2024) 📍 

We began with our kick-off meeting in Malta, where partners from six institutions met in person to plan, connect, and set the course for the project. This was the moment the CARS vision officially came to life.

Launching the Website (March 2024) 🌐 

In March, the official CARS Project EU website went live, providing a central hub for resources, news, and partner updates. It marked a major milestone in sharing our mission with the wider public.

Seminar Appearances and Team Spotlights (April 2024) 👥 

CARS was presented at international seminars, including one on Neurodiversity and Emerging Technologies hosted by the University of Burgos. We also introduced our core team members through the Meet the Team campaign.

Publishing Our Video Tutorials (June – July 2024) 🎥 

We released a three-part video tutorial series on AR authoring with ZapWorks, guiding educators through the tools they need to bring stories to life with images, models, audio, and interactivity.

Launching the LearnHub Platform (July 2024) 🧠 

Our teacher training platform, CARS LearnHub, went live in July, offering structured resources, lessons, and collaboration spaces for educators across Europe to explore AR storytelling.

Teacher Training in Spain (October 2024) 🏫 

In October, we hosted a three-day teacher training event in Burgos, Spain, bringing together educators from Malta, Cyprus, and Spain to gain hands-on experience in AR story creation and classroom integration.

Pilots Begin in Schools (November 2024 – Ongoing) 🧪

The final months of the year focused on implementation. Pilots began across partner schools, and educators started testing the tools, techniques, and content with their students—sparking creativity, collaboration, and joy.

We’ve gathered some of our favorite moments from the past year—from the very first meetings to hands-on classroom sessions:

What’s Next?

With pilot testing underway and data collection progressing, 2025 will be a year of reflection, refinement, and reporting. We look forward to sharing more success stories, insights, and lessons learned as we continue exploring how Augmented Reality can enhance language education for young learners.

To everyone who has followed, supported, and contributed to the CARS Project EU: thank you. Here's to another year of empowering children to tell their stories in new, meaningful ways.