The Otakou Steam Cluster group has received more than $400,000 in funding from the Otago Community Trust to become part of the worldwide network, which involves working on projects designed to teach students the importance of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
The total cost of the project was about $650,000.
Cluster facilitator and Tahuna teacher Iain Cook-Bonney said about 2000 students were involved in total, from ''year 0 to year 8'', and about 100 teachers.
''We've got some really small schools, and some really big schools here.''
The programme involved digital collaboration between schools to share knowledge, and the schools in the Otakou network - an 18km stretch along the peninsula - were connected to sister schools in China.
''We are lucky on the peninsula, all our schools are part of a Mandarin cluster. Our students have been learning Mandarin,'' he said.
It was about identifying a project or issue and what could be done to address it - for instance, Macandrew Bay School, where children would be working on cleaning up a stream.
Other schools were also helping each other come up with solutions to problems, and looking at an ''integrated approach''.
Tahuna and a couple of primary schools were focusing on rising sea levels in South Dunedin, and using electronic devices to monitor and measure the rising water table.
Steam originated in the United States, to address a shortage in the future in the skills market, and in Dunedin the cluster would be partnering with the Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago.
It began as Stem, but in the last two years arts was also added, to add another level of innovation to the programme.
Steam was due to run until 2021, and an official launch would be held on April 2.
Animation Research chief executive Cheryl Adams will speak and there will be a live video connection to sister schools in China.
