Ash and roots: art to germinate an ecological conscience
This project arises as a response to a large forest fire which caused a significant loss of the natural heritage of the Hellín region. In this project, art and ecology work together to broadcast to citizens what happens after a fire, and make them participants in the change in order to strengthen their engagement to this cause.
To do this, the project include workshops which are framed on the Municipal Environmental Education Program in its XXII edition.
Local
Spain
Hellín (Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha).
Mainly rural
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: María Soledad Last name: González-Reforma Martínez Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: University of Murcia Nationality: Spain Function: Researcher Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Street- Mayor de Espinardo, nº119, 2ºB. Town: Murcia Postal code: 30100 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 622 11 74 58 E-mail:msoledad.gonzalez1@um.es
First name: Ayuntamiento de Hellín Last name: Servicio de Medio Ambiente Gender: Other Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Town hall Nationality: Spain Function: Environmental service of the town hall Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Calle el Rabal, Pl. la Iglesia, 1, 02400 Hellín, Albacete Town: Hellín Postal code: 02400 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 967 54 15 12 E-mail:medioambientehellin@gmail.com Website:http://medioambientehellin.blogspot.com
Learning is a process which not only involves understanding and memorizing, it is a much more complex process in whose develop we associate ideas to find new meanings in them, and other factors such as emotion and experience enter into this process. In this sense, this idea of learning and feeling is not far from what we know as art, especially in artistic practices which works with social transformation, due to this kind of art works use tools which are based on experience and collaboration.
In the proposed project, Ceniza y raíces, these ideas are put into practice from the artworks created by the ecological artist Marisol González-Reforma and the workshops which are framed on the Environmental Education Program of the City of Hellín. These workshops show the reality after the forest fire that destroyed 1,977 hectares near the city, offering the opportunity to be part of that change, restoring lost links with the natural space devastated.
Some of the proposed workshops are thought to join museum and forest because they not only have a direct impact on citizens, they are also designed to have echoes in nature and collaborate in improving its biodiversity. However, we want to go further, and carry out a reforestation intervention in the area in which we are working with collaborators in order to reach more people and increase the feeling of identity of citizens with that forest.
Art and ecology
Environmental education
Climatic inheritance
Fires forest
Regeneration of a degraded space
1-As we have said, the use of art to promote ecological awareness can be really effective due to the involvement of experience and emotion. Likewise, during the development of the entire project, a coherence has always been sought between the message and the use of ecological and recycled materials both in the production of the pieces and in the assembly of the museum room.
2-Environmental education is a tool that helps us to know the environmental problems that surround us, in this case that of the forest fires that devastate our mountains every summer. Not only do we want visitors to become aware of this problem but we also want to make them aware of the solution. For this, a workshop has been developed with more than 300 schoolchildren to make seed bombs that will be thrown in the affected area to help its regeneration.
3-Climate heritage is one of the fundamental issues addressed by the project. It is very important for us that visitors and collaborators not only work on the current reality, but imagine what it will be like in the future to encourage commitment to that place and offer a vision that gives them hope and enthusiasm to work on it.
4-In order to create social awareness and involve the population, the problem of forest fires has been presented in an impressive way. In addition, all the works of the students who have participated in the workshops are part of the exhibition. What makes the participants also feel protagonists.
The objectives to be achieved with the workshops carried out so far in the project are the following:
1. Offer a space to experiment with new materials that bring them closer to the creative process of the artist.
2. Show the importance of the coherence of the material in relation to the message to be transmitted.
3. Use drawing as a tool to learn to look at the place you work with.
4. Recover the link between employees and nature.
5. Build a bridge between the museum and the natural space to which the project is directed.
6. Collaborate in the recovery of the soil and biodiversity of the affected area.
For this in the first workshop aimed at groups between fifteen and eighteen years old. It should be noted that after contrasting the experience with the participants, the exclusive use of materials rescued from the forest fire as drawing instruments was very significant, since it favored a more immersive experience and close to the forest.
In the second workshop we found a wider age range and groups with functional diversity. To meet the rest of the proposed objectives, first an introduction is made on the evolution of the Mediterranean forest after a fire and the importance of soil preservation; Subsequently, materials for making seed pumps are explained and offered. The contact with mud and seeds generates a lot of curiosity, especially among the little ones and helps them understand that the work they are doing will be part of a future forest, which they can now only imagine. In this way, through experience and emotion we germinate a commitment in the collaborators reconnecting them with that space. It is interesting to note that some groups have requested a continuation of the activity in order to continue working with the emotions developed in the meeting.
During the development of the project we have collaborated with numerous schools among which we find centers with students with functional diversity. It is interesting to note that the work done with them has evolved in a very positive way requesting new collaborations in relation to the project.
On the other hand, it is relevant to talk about new social models, it is no coincidence that the workshops have been carried out with educational centers. One of the main themes of the project is climate heritage and we consider that one of the best ways to work on it is by instilling the values of respect, care and connection with nature in the younger generations.
Throughout the exhibition period and the workshops, information has been collected on the sensations and learning received from each of the participants, in order to evaluate and contrast the impact of the actions and workshops, although this phase is still in progress. in development due to the fact that the exhibition does not end until February 5, 2023, we can detail some of the impressions of those who have already participated.
What they have felt has been sadness when they understand the loss of biodiversity after a fire and understand the importance of caring for our natural heritage. What he liked the most is being part of the exhibition.
In 2022, during the University Talent Gala of the City of Hellín 2021, when the artist Marisol González-Reforma was awarded in the Arts and Humanities category, Juana Olea, responsible for the Environment service of the Hellín City Council, was interested in his work..
At that time, the artist who had just started her Doctoral Thesis, specializing in the development of new exhibition models that are more environmentally responsible, was also making pieces about the fire and a prototype of the project that is being developed, in which the idea of using the exhibition space as a workshop and the connection of the museum with the affected natural space was already contemplated. In this way, the collaborative project between the city's Environmental Service and the artist began to take shape,considering interesting to frame it in the municipal program of environmental education.
However, during the evolution and maturation of the project, the collaboration of other entities was necessary in order to be able to offer contrasted information and have the necessary support and permits for the growth and realization of the project. Joining this collaboration, the Corps of Environmental Agents, the INFOCAM firefighting service, with technicians, Environmental Agents and GEACAM personnel. Likewise, the project has had the support of the Delegation of Sustainable Development of the province of Albacete.
It is not a multidisciplinary project, but a transdisciplinary one. In other words, knowledge from different areas is not only brought together, but also works and affects each other, overlapping to improve project results. The following areas have been involved in its creation:
Art, ecology, education and forest management.
In this case, the representatives of the first three disciplines have worked together since the beginning of the project, always sharing ideas regardless of the topic being discussed.boarded. This way of working streamlined the evolution of the project while proposing richer solutions to the issues being dealt with. On the other hand, the area related to forest management, although it has meant a very significant contribution of knowledge and assessment of the actions, has had less interaction in terms of project design.
Although it is true that more and more artists are currently working on ecological issues due to its importance, it is also true that it is very complex to achieve an alliance and commitment among so many collaborators to develop a project of these characteristics. It is inspiring that institutions are committed to projects like this.
Likewise, we consider that Ceniza y raíces is an avant-garde project because it is alive and it is very difficult to frame the concepts that we already know due to the following reasons:
It begins with an exhibition that is constantly evolving thanks to the participants, it is only complete on the last day of the exhibition.
We extend the artist's concern for the coherence between message and materials to the exhibition space. All the materials used are natural, remains of the fire, or have passed an ecological footprint reduction protocol developed by the artist.
It focuses on the experience of the participants and how it can change their position towards this topic.
The work carried out in the museum is linked to the natural space that is being discussed. The seed bombs made in the workshops are launched in the affected areas.
It is intended to continue the project with an art intervention in nature that can create a greater diffusion.
The theoretical and conceptual base of the project could be projected to other cities that suffer similar disasters. However, it is important to point out that both the pieces that we can see in the room and the intervention that is intended to be carried out in nature are unique and designed for that specific space.
In other words, the project could be transferred to other places as long as new works are carried out and an intervention that adapts to the conditions of the natural space with which it is going to work, such as the selection of species appropriate to that environment.
For the fulfillment of the previously stated objectives we will use the following
methodological tools: bibliographic review, interviews and collaboration with specialists, and implementation of eco-artivist artistic production and sustainable expographic devices.
Bibliographic Review: given the interdisciplinary nature of the project, the consulted bibliography includes publications from different disciplines such as art, ecology, curating, art criticism, sociology and
sustainable economy and education. Among the bibliography consulted to formulate the project, it is worth highlighting: Borisova, A. (2018) "Construction of transversal identity discourses in collaborative and interactive documentary productions", Beck, U. (1998) "The risk society: towards a new modernity ”, Damasio, A. (1994) “Descartes' error: emotion, reason and the human brain”, De la Torre, B. (2018) “Hybris: a possible approach to eco-aesthetics”, Goleman, D. (2009) “Ecological intelligence”, Raquejo Grado, T. and Perales Blanco, V. (2022) “Ecosocial art: other ways of thinking, doing and feeling”.
Interviews and collaboration with specialists: to tackle a project as complex and extensive as this, it has been necessary to work actively with experts from different fields in order to compare and offer quality information to the public and project participants.
Artistic production processes as research tools: the development and monitoring of artistic practices is essential to be able to assess the feasibility of the proposed objectives. Likewise, this phase will help us to correct possible shortcomings for future projects and will highlight the importance of production processes in a plastic work of these characteristics, with special emphasis on collaborative artistic practices.
If we talk about Sustainable Development Goals, in the Municipal Environmental Education Program the project is already part of the objective 17 Alliances to achieve the objectives. Although we can frame it in other challenges such as 13 climate action, 15 life and terrestrial ecosystems or 12 responsible production and consumption.
In addition, on the one hand, some of the centers have requested to continue collaborating with the project, and on the other hand, individually some of the workshop participants have requested to voluntarily carry out the activity open to the general public to launch seed bombs in the bush.
Therefore, we understand that we have managed, in a large part of the participants, to germinate a link and a commitment to the forest.
So far eight educational centers have participated: I.E.S Justo Millán. I.E.S Cristobal Lozano, I.E.S Melchor de Macanaz, I.E.S Izpisúa Belmonte, Cruz de Mayo Public School of Special Education, San Rafael College, La Olivarera College, Martinez Parras College. And the collaboration of 300 students is estimated.
For next year, we would like to be able to continue with the project developing a more forceful action in nature. We would like to create a small spiral-shaped forest with native species. The spiral is a symbol that tells us about the cycle of life, the beginning and the end, and through its representation we can create a green space that reminds citizens that not everything is lost, respect, care and love for land can be part of that cycle to improve the conditions of our forests. However, to carry out this phase of the project we need significant financial support on which we are working.
The project presented moves in areas in which the EU has limited powers but the repercussion is observed and must be recognized in the environment, in the environment altered and degraded by the human species, which is one of the axes of community policies .
Supporting transdisciplinary projects whose objective is to educate and raise awareness about environmental problems such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity or the degradation of the environment helps to strengthen the role of the EU in environmental policies.
If we focus on the European Union's Environment Action Programme, this project is part of adapting to the problems of climate change. The increase and severity of the 6th generation forest fires that we are currently suffering are but one of the consequences of climate change. In Spain last summer 2022 we found an average of three forest fires a day, so it is necessary to address this problem in all possible ways.
This project does so both from citizen awareness and with the work for the recovery of that natural space, because unfortunately the increase in temperatures and the drought of Mediterranean forests in southern Spain make it even more difficult to regenerate the space before being devastated by a new fire. The launching of seed balls (Nendo Dango) and intervention in nature is not only a resilient mechanism, but also lays its foundations in soil protection and biodiversity conservation.
We also believe that although it is currently a small action, it will serve to sow seeds of hope and recover the links of citizens with that natural space.
