ARECA is a collaborative project between cultural and educational organisations in Portugal, Spain and France, supported by the European Union.
It follows on from the Sete Anos Sete Escolas (Seven Years Seven Schools) project that creator Cláudia Dias has been developing in Portugal since 2016, in the cities of Almada, Porto and Seixal, and is based on a programme of artistic practices with young people in the school setting that encourages critical reflection and artistic creation, aimed at empowering students, promoting social inclusion and preventing school dropout.
> promoting critical reflection on the globalised world we live in;
> exploring language and speech as a fundamental means of thought, expression and also civic and political participation;
> acilitating encounters and relationships with the different ‘other’, with diversity, and the ability to “be united in dissent”;
> exercising direct democracy
ARECA intends to replicate this project, focusing primarily on the study and collaborative reflection of its practices, in dialogue with artists from other European countries invited to experiment with and implement this artistic and teaching programme in their territories of intervention.
It involves identifying important characteristics for approaches to teaching and guiding principles, themes, methodologies and work tools from two perspectives: the core skills profile of the artists and their teams, and the impact on young people.
In other words, ARECA aims to train artists to design, implement and evaluate artistic projects with young people in public schools, using a collaborative and interdisciplinary working process between the arts, education and social research.
1. Formalising the Seven Years Seven Schools teaching model through a participatory process of experimentation and systematisation of learning involving stakeholders from the three countries involved.
2. Facilitating the process of transnational exchange, networking and the training of artists and their teams from these three countries to enable the transfer of knowledge beyond the personal sphere of each project and artist so that it belongs to everyone, providing access to and democratising knowledge.
3. Framing and scientifically substantiating the work carried out, monitored by a team of sociologists who document the conclusions drawn during the process, so as to reach science-based conclusions.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Creative Europe. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
