On the 15th and 16th of June, the Minestory project brought together several classes and their teachers for an annual conference hosted by Campus Numéria at Futuroscope in Poitiers, France. The conference is a culmination of a year’s work by the participating classes. The aim of Minestory is to allow pupils to learn in a different way through video games, with the help of Luanti. For several years now, Minestory has enabled pupils to become researchers, heritage guides and 3D modellers by reconstructing heritage sites within the open-source Luanti universe.
The 2026 edition brought together four classes in person: the Henri-Challand School in Nuits-Saint-Georges, the Terrasson-Lavilledieu School, the Pasteur School in Charenton-le-Pont and the Grignols School. Two other classes took part remotely via video presentations: a class from Chicago, which showcased its work on the Museum of Science and Industry, and a class from Calmont, which presented the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. As is the case every year, the conference enabled the pupils to share several months’ worth of research, visits, field surveys, modelling and the creation of educational resources, whilst discovering the work carried out by the other schools.
The afternoon centred on two key events. During the conference, each class took to the stage to present their monument, their approach, and the knowledge they had acquired throughout the year. The pupils also had the pleasure of welcoming Thomas François, this year’s guest speaker (slides), who came to present Luanti and discuss with them the digital environment that underpins the project. The second part of the day was devoted to collaborative workshops bringing together groups of pupils from different schools for activities designed to encourage cooperation and the application of what they had learnt.
Monuments
Cover image by Minestory.