Radical Change for Sustainable Transformation
Wednesday 7 July 2021
Students from ELIA member institutions shared their innovative impulses as well as serious concerns about environmental sustainability and distribution of power, with Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, at the third episode of Agents of Transformation in Art and Design: Student-driven Conversations About the New European Bauhaus. This online session was part of the broader Agents of Transformation movement/platform, which aims to give students a voice in the conversations about the European Commission’s New European Bauhaus initiative. ELIA and Berlin University of the Arts have worked together to give students a platform to meet, and the means to reach out to policy makers and stakeholders in the arts and field of education. Commissioner Gabriel underlined the importance of continuing dialogue, encouraging students to remain active throughout the duration of the New European Bauhaus project and beyond. She expressed a wish for more regular exchange with students in the future. Addressing the students, she said: “My message is very clear, I count on you.” The commitment of the students involved in these conversations, which started in April, on topics that are key for the New European Bauhaus (environmental sustainability, inclusivity and aesthetics) is inspiring. Their concerns are a serious call to action for policy makers and for the higher arts education sector as a whole. These crucial concerns were evident in the presentations of David Reitenbach (Student, Berlin University of the Arts) and Yris Apsit (Student, Zurich University of the Arts) who were selected to represent their peers. In his contribution, David highlighted the urgency of climate action, explaining why the stakes are tremendously high. He then zoomed into the role that higher arts education could and should play. He mentioned the fantastic tools that art and design education can offer and that can be implemented in the frame of climate action, for instance: sketches, prototypes, dialogical activities, and means to communicate the ecological crisis. “A form of teaching and learning is required that makes students aware of their agency and responsibility”, he argued. Students should be given the tools for the transition to sustainable futures, a transition which “requires changes in the material world as well as it requires an enormous mind shift.” According to David, there is no time to waste, and such a major challenge should be tackled now, by a “pan-European reform in higher education in art and design that really does justice to this planetary crisis”. Yris spoke of interconnectivity, the need for system thinking. As is the New European Bauhaus way, you cannot think of environmental sustainability without considering other factors such as inclusivity. For the students involved distribution of power was a key topic of conversation and exchange that needs to be addressed and be central in the initiative. “This topic needs radical thinking of change, and radical thinking of otherness, empathy and collectiveness. This is a challenge we are addressing to you”, said Yris. She started her speech to the Commissioner by acknowledging that there are always voices missing, even in this digital room, and in the group of students that were able to participate to Agents of Transformation. The only way to deal with this is to continuously ask oneself: “Who is we? (…) Who speaks from where and to whom? Who speaks? Who speaks in the place of, who can’t speak?” It is the duty of the New European Bauhaus initiative to remember this question, and keep asking it. The Commissioner heard the students’ concerns, and agreed with the importance of bringing other voices that are not yet represented into the New European Bauhaus initiative. The students also argued for the importance of connecting with the local level, and the Commissioner appreciated that, suggesting to look for collaborations with the Committee of the Regions. She also challenged the students and ELIA community: “Let’s identify together what are the European instruments and European platforms that already exist, and by working together with them how we can give the visibility to your initiative, to your project, to your platform, in order to underline the extraordinary contributions of students in arts and design in the New European Bauhaus.” The energy in the digital room was tangible and reverberated also in Commissioner Gabriel’s final statement: “You can see I am passionate about this. But when I have meetings like this one, my passion is doubling, because it is so encouraging to see you, talented young people with a lot of ideas. Stay critical, it’s important. Really preserve this critical thinking, because I felt this in some of the interventions and you are right, we need to address these questions. One last word: count on my full support.” - Watch the full recording of the Agents of Transformation in Art and Design, third episode (6 July 2021), on ELIA’s VIMEO library.
- Take a look at the recently launched, official Agents of Transformation website, which aims to become a digital platform for and by students in art and design. Here you can look up the project outcomes so far, and find out what is next.
- Are you a student? You are invited to contribute with your ideas to the Agents of Transformation MIRO boards on different topics here.
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