ABOUT MATHEMATICS FOR CHANGE
Connecting mathematics with real-world challenges, sustainability, and meaningful learning.
Mathematics for Change is a digital platform designed for teachers.
It offers short, ready-to-use lesson modules that connect core mathematical concepts with authentic global issues through real data, inquiry, modelling, and critical thinking.
Designed to complement existing curricula, Mathematics for Change helps students experience mathematics not simply as a subject to study, but as a powerful tool for exploring, interpreting, and understanding the world around them.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to make mathematics more meaningful by connecting core mathematical concepts with authentic real-world challenges.
Mathematics for Change supports teachers with classroom-ready, data-driven lessons that encourage students to investigate, model, reason, interpret evidence, and communicate their thinking.
Through these experiences, students are invited to develop mathematical literacy, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of how mathematics can help us make sense of the world.
OUR VISION
We envision a world where mathematics education inspires curiosity, critical thinking, and global awareness.
A classroom where mathematics becomes a living language — not only for calculation, but for interpreting patterns, questioning evidence, modelling complex systems, and understanding the forces shaping our world.
Our long-term vision is to build an international community of educators who believe that rigorous mathematics and meaningful real-world learning can strengthen one another.
FROM AN IDEA TO MATHEMATICS FOR CHANGE
Mathematics for Change did not begin as a platform.
The idea first emerged through Elena Martelli’s work with the Global Schools Program, where she began exploring how mathematics lessons could connect curriculum content with the Sustainable Development Goals and real-world challenges.
What initially started as an idea for a collection of interdisciplinary mathematics lessons gradually evolved through classroom experimentation, international collaboration, and opportunities to share this approach with educators around the world.
THE EARLY JOURNEY
2025 · Global Schools Program
Connecting Mathematics and the Sustainable Development Goals
During her experience with the Global Schools Program, Elena began developing mathematics lessons designed to connect curriculum concepts with sustainability, real-world data, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
2025 · Greening STEAM Education
Tidal Power Selected as an Educational Resource
The lesson Tidal Power: Harnessing the Energy of Sea Currents STEAM Project was selected for the Greening STEAM Education initiative, recognising its interdisciplinary approach to mathematics, renewable energy, and sustainability.
July 2025 · Global Schools Professional Development
Sharing Tidal Power with an International Community of Educators
Elena was invited to present Tidal Power: A Local and Interdisciplinary STEAM Project during a Global Schools professional development session, sharing the lesson and its interdisciplinary STEAM approach with an international community of educators.
NEW YORK
September 2025 · New York City
Education for Peace & Planet: From Histories to Futures
Global Goals Week — Spotlight: Schools for Goal 7
Elena joined the Schools for Goal 7 Spotlight as a panelist during Education for Peace & Planet: From Histories to Futures, an international gathering held in New York alongside the 2025 UN General Assembly.
The session brought together Global Schools, Siemens Energy and educators involved in Schools for Goal 7 to share experiences in energy and sustainability education.
MATHEMATICS FOR CHANGE TAKES SHAPE
October 2025
Following these experiences, the original idea began evolving into a more structured educational project.
Mathematics for Change was developed to move beyond individual lesson resources and create a digital platform where teachers could access complete learning experiences combining mathematics, authentic data, sustainability, inquiry, assessment, and student reflection.
From this point forward, Mathematics for Change began to grow as an international education project and to be shared with educators, schools, and professional communities.
SHARING MATHEMATICS FOR CHANGE
Since its development, Mathematics for Change has been shared through international education communities, professional learning events, schools, and conferences across Europe and the United States.
January 2026 · Synergy in Education
Introducing Mathematics for Change to the Synergy in Education Community
Mathematics for Change was presented during a Synergy in Education community meeting, introducing the project and its approach to real-world mathematics, sustainability, and meaningful learning to an international network of educators.
January 27, 2026 · LearningPlanet Festival
Mathematics for Change: Where Math Meets the Real World
Mathematics for Change hosted a session as part of the 2026 LearningPlanet Festival, sharing the vision behind the project and exploring how mathematics can help students engage with authentic global challenges.
LONDON
February 2026 · London, UK
Global Conference on Innovations in Education
Regent’s University London
Mathematics for Change was presented to an international education audience, sharing its approach to connecting curriculum mathematics with sustainability, authentic data, and global challenges.
BRAGA
March–April 2026 · Braga, Portugal
ATEE Winter Conference 2026
Science and Mathematics Education in the Digital Era
The Mathematics for Change international pilot and its early development were presented to educators, opening a discussion on how the project could be implemented across different schools, countries, and educational contexts.
INTERNATIONAL PILOT
January-April 2026
FROM AN IDEA TO CLASSROOM PRACTICE
Global Pilot Phase
Mathematics for Change was piloted with schools and students across multiple countries and continents, providing valuable classroom feedback and early evidence of its impact.
MILAN
June 2026 · Milan, Italy
Canadian School of Milan
Mathematics for Change was presented directly within an international school setting, providing an opportunity to share the platform, lesson framework, international pilot experience, and vision for real-world mathematics education with educators.
ORLANDO
June–July 2026 · Orlando, Florida
ISTELive + ASCD Annual Conference
Mathematics for Change was presented at ISTELive + ASCD 2026, bringing the project to an international community of educators, school leaders, and education innovators.
Global Impact
The Global Impact presentation introduced the vision and international development of Mathematics for Change and explored how mathematics education can connect students with authentic global challenges.
Global Collaboration Playground
During the Playground session, educators had the opportunity to explore Mathematics for Change directly, interact with the platform and lesson materials, and discuss possibilities for classroom implementation.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
What began as an idea for a collection of mathematics lessons connected to sustainability has grown into an international educational initiative.
Today, Mathematics for Change brings together classroom-ready lessons, real-world data, teacher resources, student assessment and feedback, and an expanding international network of educators interested in making mathematics more meaningful and connected to the world students live in.
And the journey continues.
COMING NEXT
August 13, 2026 · Online
Learning & Teaching the Mathematics of Climate Change
Paleontological Research Institution
Elena Martelli will join PRI’s Climate Team for a professional learning workshop exploring essential quantitative skills for K–12 climate and energy education.
October 28–31, 2026 · Denver, Colorado
NCTM 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition
Mathematics for Change will be presented at the NCTM 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition in Denver, bringing the project into one of the major professional communities in mathematics education..
MEET THE FOUNDER
Elena Martelli
Founder & Educational Lead
Elena Martelli is a mathematics educator and curriculum designer with over 15 years of experience in secondary education.
Her work focuses on making mathematics meaningful, interdisciplinary, and connected to the world students live in. Through her experience in mathematics education, sustainability education, and international educator communities, she developed Mathematics for Change as a way to help teachers connect rigorous curriculum content with authentic global contexts.
She believes mathematics can be more than a language of calculation: it can be a language for interpreting evidence, recognising patterns, questioning assumptions, and understanding the systems shaping our world.
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BRING MATHEMATICS FOR CHANGE INTO YOUR CLASSROOM
Discover ready-to-use mathematics lessons designed around real data, authentic global challenges, inquiry, and meaningful mathematical thinking.