Informatics in Education, 2016, Vol. 15, No. 1, 25–44 © 2016 Vilnius University DOI: 10.15388/infedu.2016.02 25 Bebras – a Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking Valentina DAGIENĖ, Gabrielė STUPURIENĖ Vilnius University, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics Akademijos str. 4, LT-08663 Vilnius, Lithuania e-mail: {valentina.dagiene, gabriele.stupuriene}@mii.vu.lt Received: September 2015 Abstract. As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based educational community build- ing model. This paper aims to introduce the Bebras model using ten years of observations in implementing the contest in different countries. The model is essentially based on democratic and inclusive education values. Systematic literature review of research papers concerning Be- bras activities has made an integral background for this model. The model is represented both at international and national levels and consists of several components where the development of Bebras tasks has taken a very signifcant role. Reasoning on innovated learning informatics and strengthening computational thinking by utilising carefully selected informatics concepts is discussed as well. Keywords: Bebras challenge, computational thinking, contest, democratic education, informatics concepts, informatics education, systematic literature review. 1. Introduction Attracting youngsters to choose to study computer science or informatics – an equiva- lent terminology often used within Europe – at schools has always been a challenge for educators. The idea of developing contest on informatics fundamentals for school students was raised by Lithuania in 2004 (Dagienė, 2005; 2006). Recently, the contest has been spreading over 40 countries involving various activities, e.g. several rounds of the contest, discussion on informatics topics, task solving seminars, teacher work- shops, and task developing events. Since 2015, Bebras contest on informatics and