Interreg project “Education 3D” brings 3D-printed assistive tools to cross-border special education

In the German–French–Swiss Upper Rhine region, 3D printing is set to be used more strongly as a tool for inclusive teaching in the future. The monitoring committee of the EU program Interreg Upper Rhine has approved the project “Education 3D,” which started in December. The background is that special education and inclusion in the region face similar requirements, but cross-border cooperation still has room for improvement. Teachers need not only coordinated concepts, but also aids that can be quickly adapted to individual learning needs.

This is exactly where “Education 3D” comes in: participating universities, higher-education institutions, and specialist organizations want to develop tactile models and teaching aids that can be manufactured locally via additive manufacturing. Such models are currently often procured from external suppliers, are expensive, and can only be varied to a limited extent. With 3D printing, geometries, scales, and tactile features can be tailored to specific classroom situations—for example for learners with visual or perceptual impairments. In addition, the digital provision of CAD data makes reuse and adaptation easier, without requiring new tools or molds each time.

In addition to model development, the project provides for equipping institutions with suitable 3D printers, combined with training for teachers. A bilingual online database is also planned, linking print-ready models with didactic concepts. Workshops, exhibitions, and competitions are intended to create a network for sharing experience and to support the dissemination of proven materials.

Project management lies with the University of Education Freiburg, which is responsible for the pedagogical focus. The technical priorities around printing technologies, material selection, and print-oriented design are being handled by Prof. Dr. Stefan Junk and his team at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. A rapid prototyping lab with multiple printing processes is available there to test models with different material properties. The total budget is around €2.5 million, of which Interreg Upper Rhine is funding €1.5 million; Offenburg University of Applied Sciences will receive just under €290,000, around €170,000 of which comes from ERDF funds.