The Art in the Park project focuses on answering three main challenges raised from the Covid-19 pandemic: 1) Find alternative solutions to virtual classes that can take place in open spaces, promoting interactive learning and motivation regarding STEM subjects. By developing open-space activities in green areas, the activities will be also more inclusive toward pupils who do not have internet access or the technological equipment to take part in the lessons, or do not have the skills to attend the virtual classes (first and second digital divide). 2) Support creative sector organisations in diversifying their services, creating new opportunities to deliver their activities in open spaces, such as parks and green areas. 3) Engage young people in learning about conservation actions and become actors of change in their local environment by acquiring the scientific (STEM) knowledge and attitude, as well as the creative mindset to understand current European environmental challenges and develop creative solutions. The MAIN OBJECTIVE of Art in the Park is to: "Engage pupils in STEM education through creativity and the arts in forest and urban parks as an innovative methodology for conservation education and safe learning". The SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES are: O1: Develop creative and STEM competencies in pupils to become actors of change regarding conservation actions and ecological transition O2: Develop the competencies of creative organisations to engage pupils and young people in art activities in forest and park spaces O3: Valorise forests and parks as spaces for STEM learning, in opposition to classroom-based activities, to provide a creative and safe environment for learning. The project has three MAIN TARGETS: 1) Pupils of primary and lower secondary schools (age range 10 - 14), with a special focus on young people with less resources (social and economic obstacles). 2) Teaching staff of STEM subjects and school staff 3) Creative professionals METHODOLOGY The project will start with an analysis of the good practices of art and creative activities for pupils, taking into account both European and extra-European countries. This will allow to provide creative sector organisations with new ideas and methodologies, as well as inspire schools to use parks and green spaces to deliver lessons and learning experiences. The good practices analysis will culminate with the creation of the IO1 (World Report on Art in the Park: Park-based Experiences to Enhance Creativity of Pupils). Successively, the partners will take into account STEM learning and develop activities, inspired by the first IO, to use arts and creativity to teach STEM subjects in park settings. The activities will then be piloted at national level, and promoted through the eTwinning platform. This will allow to extend the impact of the project and receive feedbacks from different European countries. The finalised activities will be gathered in the handbook "Art in the Park: STEM Activities for Conservation". Finally the partners will create a methodological framework for the implementation of the activities (IO3). These guidelines will take into account the safeguarding of children in parks, the inclusion measures, a roadmap to support the development of the actions in partnerships with creative sector organisations, and the competencies assessment and validation mechanisms. During the whole project, the partners will also meet 4 times through transnational project meetings, set up in critical phases of the project, and a final multiplier event will be organised to promote the Art in the Park project to the wider European society. The project focuses on finding European answers to local problematics at the levels of schools and communities, as well as reinforce the good practices exchanges to respond to the newly raised challenges of the pandemic across countries. In fact, the governmental responses to the crisis have brought schools and creative organisations to adapt in different ways, and leveraging of this experience will allow to reinforce the resilience of educational and creative sector organisations. The international dimension is also important in the project because it allows to benefit from their different experiences, profiles and specific expertise of the organisations and produce high quality results to be further disseminate on an European level. Finally, aligned with the first priority of the project, an international dimension is necessary to stimulate European Citizenship of pupils and contribute to the EU strategic priorities and policies.
The Art in the Park project tried to provide an innovative answer to the above challenges. We wanted to valorise parks and forests to bring a wide range of benefits to pupils: not only knowledge but also confidence and social skills, as well as physical and communication competencies (Forest Research, 2005). The Main Objective has been to: Engage pupils in STEM education through creativity and the arts in forest and urban parks as an innovative methodology for conservation education and safe learning. We defined three Specific Objectives to contribute to the Main one: SO1: Develop creative and STEM competencies in pupils to become actors of change regarding conservation actions and ecological transition SO2: Develop the competencies of educational/creative organisations to engage pupils and young people in art activities in forest and park spaces SO3: Valorise forests and parks as spaces for STEM learning, in opposition to classroom-based activities, to provide a creative and safe environment for learning.
The project was born as a response to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the European school system and the creative sector. On one side, the quality of education in schools has been severely impacted by the transition to distance learning and the unpreparedness of teachers – as well as the digital capacity – has been posing a challenge to pupils already facing education, social, economic and geographical obstacles. At the same time, the creative sector is facing important systemic challenges and the government restrictions impeded the functioning of the activities for the users. The project aimed at supporting creative organisations to expand and diversify their offers, building new partnerships and services for continuing their work. Finally, the project tried to respond to a third challenge: in line with the EU Green Deal, there is the need to create active educational opportunities to engage pupils on the changes needed for a successful green transition and acquire the skills to ensure an ecological transition as well enhance their employability in the green economy. In this context, STEM education becomes a priority not only for employability purposes, but also active citizenship.