YAFE workshops for young people on environmental sustainability in Maribor are coming to an end
Almost 30 young people from the SŠOM participated in IRDO workshops on environmental sustainability in Maribor.
(Maribor, Slovenia, 20.3.2024) Today, three-day workshops for young people on environmental sustainability and street art will end in Maribor as part of the project YAFE – Youth Art for the Earth. The workshops were held at the Secondary School for Design Maribor (SŠOM) from 6 to 20 March 2024 and were organized by the IRDO institute in cooperation with the SŠOM. Similarly, workshops were held in September 2023 in Ljubljana, then in cooperation with the Young Dragons – ČMC. The YAFE project is implemented in cooperation with international partners from Serbia, France and Great Britain and is co-funded by the European Union from the Creative Europe programme. The project also produces a documentary film and short presentation films and big murals – exterior wall paintings on the topic of environmental sustainability in six European cities. In Ljubljana, a 250 m2 mural on packaging waste and food waste was created in September 2023 by internationally renowned street artist Pier Paolo Spinazzè – Cibo. Mural can be seen on the building of the former municipality of Šiška, Trg prekomorski brigade 1, Ljubljana, Slovenia (next to Kino Šiška). In April this year, a slightly smaller mural will be created at the SŠOM building in Maribor by a Slovenian academic painter, street artist and pedagogue, mag. Fedja Šičarov.
The international project Yafe – Youth Art for the Earth is co-created by partners from three countries (Slovenia, Serbia, France) with the aim of involving young people in the articulation of messages and co-creating murals on social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
From 6 to 20 March, therefore, three-day workshops for young people on environmental sustainability and street art were held at the premises of the SŠOM. As part of the workshops, Anita Hrast, MSc., Director of IRDO – Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility, Miro Mihec, Director of Etika d.o.o., and Fedja Šičarov, MSc.,academic painter and street artist, have had their lectures. Fedja Šičarov, MSc., said: “With the Yafe project, we want to introduce young people to the topic of environmental sustainability in a slightly different way – through the medium of street art. The topic is extremely actual and important nowadays and addresses the question of attitudes towards the environment in a way, that encourages young people not only to have an in-depth theoretical knowledge of the topic discussed, but also to actively participate through artistic expression. This gives them the opportunity to express their observations, views and disagreements on the discussed social and environmental issues in a meaningful and artistically interesting way.”
The two-year project organises workshops with young people aged 15 to 18 on street art and environmental sustainability and creates murals in six cities across Europe. An international documentary is also being produced, and Adam Mulalić continues its co-creation as part of the YAFE project. In Maribor, he engaged a group of students who help him create recordings, and about working with them he explained: “SŠOM students in the topic: media technician – are actively engaged in the creative process of documentary film. Together, we made a recording plan that included their creative suggestions, then we have started practical work. We recorded the course of workshops and the statements of the participants and lecturers included into curriculum. We still have to record the creation of a mural in Maribor. I am very pleased with the work of the group, which has shown excellent synergy work.”
Nadja Jager Popović, SŠOM headmaster, supported the participation of the Secondary School for Design Maribor in the YAFE project: “The SDGs are crucial for us and the future of our generations, which is why it is all the more important to start raising awareness in this area among young people and encourage them to think, take action and succeed solutions. It is all the more enjoyable for me to be able to join the YAFE project in the part that we master best – through the creativity of young people, and that we will be able to carry the mindset and awareness of the importance of the environment through a mural that will encourage the reflection of several generations of passersby.”
YAFE aims to improve the capacity to co-create attractive street art that promotes inclusion and environmental sustainability. The project is co-financed by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme and the Republic of Slovenia – Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Culture. The partners of the YAFE project are: Nobulo and Urban Art Paris, France, B92 Fund, Serbia, IRDO – Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility, Slovenia.
Workshops have already been held in the following cities: Ljubljana, Slovenia, Bor, Serbia, and Montargis, France. In all these cities large outdoor murals, every different work of art, have already been created. More information about YAFE project activities can be found here:
- https://www.facebook.com/paintthechangeglobal/
- https://www.paintthechange.me/yafe
- https://www.irdo.si/mladinska-umetnost-za-zemljo-yafe-youth-art-for-the-earth-yafe/
Photo: IRDO archive and Tim CIC, SŠOM
If you need a better resolution or any other, please let info@irdo.si
More information about the YAFE project:
YAFE – Contact for Slovenia:
IRDO – Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility
(IRDO – Inštitut za razvoj družbene odgovornosti)
Cesta 13. julija 65A, 1261 LJUBLJANA-DOBRUNJE, Slovenia, EU
Phone: +386 (0)31 344 883
E-mail: info@irdo.si; Web page: www.irdo.si
