Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE)

These workshops and murals are made possible thanks to the generous support of the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme.

The IRDO Institute cooperates with international partners in the Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE) project. The Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE) project represents the collaboration of cultural organizations across Europe in a program to engage young people in articulating messages and co-creating artworks about social responsibility and environmental sustainability.

Our focus is on older teenagers from disadvantaged and marginalised communities (half of our target group). Our objective is to help them find a voice and a sense of agency in tackling issues of environmental sustainability, by building their creative and critical thinking skills, and by engaging them with public art.

Street art is an excellent tool for communication and debate, and for enhancing public spaces for the benefit of local communities. Our goal in this project is to improve capacity for the co-creation of engaging street art that promotes inclusion and environmental sustainability by:

• Involving educators and street artists in piloting an innovative programme.
• Engaging up to 120 young participants in highly interactive workshops that build creative and critical thinking skills.
• Delivering six pieces of public art through a co-creative process for the benefit of local communities.
• Amplifying workshop discussions through film and digital media.

Wherever possible, we will use new environmentally friendly technologies such as carbon-absorbing paint.

Our activities will take place in France, Serbia and Slovenia through the partnership of the following organisations:

Nobulo and Urban Art Paris, France, have a mission to promote international culture and art, with a special focus on street art. Facilitating international and cross-cultural collaborations they have moved and promoted urban artists around the world since 2007.

Fund B92, Serbia, is a non-profit non-governmental organisation leading creative, cultural and philanthropic campaigns to effect positive social change. Established in 2004, the Fund has continued the B92 mission of promoting a decent, responsible and fair society in Serbia and the wider region.

IRDO, the Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility, Slovenia has focused on research and accelerating the development of social responsibility in Slovenia and beyond since 2004. IRDO provides a hub for key activists in this field, whether in government, business or other organisations, and coordinates awareness-raising activities.

YAFE originated as an initiative of Paint the Change, which was created in 2015 to bring social action and street art together. We have produced more than 60 murals around the world, on every continent, and have engaged millions of people through digital and broadcast media with our unique mix of youth engagement, public art and public awareness campaigns.

EDUCATION IS YOUR SHIELD AND TROPHY, Erik Burke, New York

The murals are only a part of our story. Our public art projects stem from workshops that educate and involve young people from different communities about subjects such as diversity, the right to education, religious freedom, racism and the environment.

Local educators and artists lead our workshops. Educators involve young people in meaningful conversations while artists help participants to express and visualise their ideas. The result is a giant work of art that becomes part of the fabric and history of the neighbourhoods where we work.

ATMA with workshop participants, Wapping, London

You are kindly invited to watch the documentary film, which was created as part of a past project:

Changing the World, One Wall at a Time – Slovenian subtitles, Paint the Change (52′): https://vimeo.com/374709989

Power to the Youth – Street Art for Climate and Diversity (18′): https://vimeo.com/649255909?share=copy

More information about the campaign Paint the Change: https://www.paintthechange.me/about-us

Activities in Slovenia

In Slovenia we will implement this project together with international partners in the period from March 2023 to February 2025 (24 months). Within the project we will involve young people through workshops on the topic of youth art and sustainability, paint two murals (each in Ljubljana and Maribor) and recorded videos that will eventually be combined into an international documentary film. We will support everything with promotion and other educational and awareness-raising activities.

As active citizens, you are kindly invited to co-create our activities with discussions on painting murals in cities (Ljubljana – expected in September 2023, Maribor – expected in spring 2024).

On June 29, 2023, we have also presented our project at the Ljubljana Street Art Festival 2023 – at the conference entitled Street Art and Sustainability. You can find more information here: https://streetartfestival.si/en/street-art-conference/

More information about the YAFE project: https://www.paintthechange.me/yafe

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