Popularizing mathematics through international collaboration: An example of good practice from the eTwinning project MathMay

Teaching mathematics is a challenge in itself. Today, mathematics is often perceived as "unpopular", which makes it particularly demanding to engage students and motivate them to think and learn. Guided by these challenges, we designed the international eTwinning project MathMay, whose main goal was to popularize and apply mathematics through collaborative, creative, and interdisciplinary activities. This paper presents selected tasks and examples of the project's implementation. Elementary school students (aged 11-15) from two schools in Serbia and one in Spain participated in the project. The multidisciplinary nature of the projects fostered the development of multiple competencies - mathematical, digital, scientific, personal, and social. Students reported enjoyment and satisfaction while applying mathematics in real-life and creative contexts. Overall, all project tasks were successfully implemented, and the planned goals were achieved, demonstrating the potential of international collaboration for improving students' motivation and positive attitudes toward mathematics.