Art, a discipline for ethics and sustainability

A work of art prepared by the students themselves in the school IES Arrasate with the aim of separating positive and negative aspects served as the medium with which to work on numerous ethical concepts as well as those related to respect for the environment and diversity.

During the academic year 2012-2013 the coordinators of School Agenda 21 in IES Arrasate, together with persons responsible for GaraiON Naturartea Elkartea proposed to the management of the school the idea of setting up a project with a link between art and nature as its central theme. In addition to making the students aware of values so usual in the school curriculum such as nature as a model of creativity and a source of resources, or respect for the environment, with the initiative it is also hoped to promote different experiences through artistic creativity.

To this end, it was decided to choose the students included in the programme School Agenda 21 in addition to the boys and girls in fourth year secondary in the subject of Plastic Education. The technicians in GaraiON were responsible for breaking the ice in a two-hour session in the school itself, in which they presented the initiative to the future participants. They proposed doing a work of art outside the amenities of the association, in the middle of nature, using elements from nature itself. For this, they asked students to share their ideas with the group and among all of them it was decided to choose the most appealing. From this moment the actual process of elaboration began: work teams were created, the necessary materials were gathered and the development of the project was defined.

The proposal chosen consisted of a large sculpture which, even though it was one single work, consisted of one long road in the centre of which an arc would be erected. On one side they arranged positive aspects such as love (taking the form of a heart), nature (different flowers) or equality between men and women. On the other, conversely, the negative concepts, such as violence or corruption (represented by fire, mud and stones) which were finally set on fire with the aim of removing them.

It was a satisfactory experience for both the teachers and the students and the idea turned out to be beneficial. Students participated actively in the whole process of developing the idea, in this way strengthening teamwork, the concept of a communal task (auzolan) and the feeling of belonging to a project under the precept of respect for diversity between people.

Samaniego mural, commitment to improving our ecological attitude

Awareness of the environment has served the management of IPI Samaniego, with the participation of a large number of students, to develop a project in which they have managed to rehabilitate a deteriorated space in the school.

With a view to celebrating the tenth anniversary of their participation in the School Agenda 21, IPI Samaniego in Vitoria-Gasteiz proposed the possibility of making a mural in the rear part of the school, reflecting the different themes worked on throughout these ten years. In addition, with this activity they managed to revamp an area in the school that had deteriorated quite badly and that in the last few years had become a necessary passageway for the youngest students in the centre, aged two and three years in Infant Education.

The idea matured and became the fundamental work of the course. Work was done with students on all the themes in the last few years: renewable energy, responsible consumption, correct use of water, biodiversity, treatment of waste and recycling, global warming, sustainable mobility....

At the same time, the school got in contact with a free-time activity monitor who at the time was teaching drawing to children in Primary Education (Company "Fill in Culture" from Vitoria-Gasteiz) to give shape to the activity.

Even though they had studied the themes in each educational cycle, it was decided that the protagonists were to be the children in 3rd and 5th years of Primary Education. At the start the project was explained to them and between both groups they undertook different drawings. They thought of different themes that could be used in the design and the blog of the school (http://samaniegoagenda21.blogspot.com.es/) echoed the call to publicise the project among the whole community. All contributions were displayed in the school corridors, by way of exhibition, and from this cooperation the ideas emerged for the mural.

With the cooperation of their tutors and the management of the work by the monitors, the final execution of the mural was the responsibility of these two courses, already mentioned.

The mural, which continues in perfect condition, has achieved a double objective: on the one hand to rehabilitate a run-down space and, on the other, to raise awareness on the importance of looking after the environment, beginning with the most immediate and acquiring a commitment to improving our ecological attitude.