The 14th Young Explorers' Clubs Forum, held on November 28–29, 2025, in Warsaw, brought together over 300 participants – supervisors, partners, and educators from Poland and 10 other countries. The meeting, organized by the Copernicus Science Center, was devoted to the quality of the clubs' activities, sharing achievements, and building a space conducive to experimentation and developing young people's scientific passions.
“The Young Explorers Club (KMO) program is a continuation of a model project initiated in 2002 as part of the PAFF ‘Equal Opportunities’ program by the Kłodzko Educational Society, currently implemented by the Copernicus Science Center. The aim of KMO is to popularize interest in science among children and young people. Its formula enables young people to learn through experimentation and conducting independent experiments using simple, easily accessible materials,” explains Mirosław Czyżewski, PAFF Program Officer.
The KMO Forum is an annual meeting of an international community of mentors and partners who, together with the Copernicus Science Center and Polish-American Freedom Foundation, develop the Young Explorers Clubs program.
This year, in addition to 200 Young Explorers Club mentors from Poland, 70 guests from 10 countries, including Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, took part in the forum.
“These two days were a time to deepen relationships with other Young Explorers Club leaders. It is also, and perhaps above all, a form of mutual support – a space to share challenges in educational work and to search for solutions together,” says Piotr Knapek, one of the Young Explorers Club leaders.
The first day of the forum was primarily devoted to a debate on involving young people in research projects, giving them responsibility for running them, and organizing events to popularize science. Participants had the opportunity to take part in workshops during which they exchanged experiences from the activities of Young Explorers Clubs.
The forum was also an opportunity to honor 15 clubs, 5 from Poland and 10 from abroad, distinguished in the “KMO Masters” competition promoting the most active Young Explorers Clubs.
On the second day of the forum, an inspiration exchange was held with the participation of nearly 50 clubs, which presented experiments that develop young people’s skills of observation, asking research questions, and drawing conclusions. It was a place where ideas, experiences, and experiments from various clubs – from Poland and abroad – came together.
The participants also took part in a meeting with Zuzanna Michalska, author of the: “Changing education on the example of the Young Explorer Club program coordinated by the Copernicus Science Center” book.
During this year’s forum, the Tigray Development Association from Ethiopia and a consortium of three institutions from Moldova – Glodeni District Council, Infonet Alliance, and Junior Achievement Moldova – joined the group of foreign partners of the program. Thus, the group of foreign partners now includes 13 institutions from 7 countries.
