From Personal Experience to Global Awareness: Art-Based Educational Practices Addressing Urban Desertification

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17561/rtc.30.9894

Keywords:

Art-based Educational Practices, Climate Change, Desertification, Urban Soil, Personal Experience

Abstract

The artistic-educational proposal presented here is framed within the project El clima en la cuerda floja: imaginando extremos futuros, funded by FECYT, and aims to make visible the atmospheric phenomenon of desertification through the exploration of urban soils. Based on an interdisciplinary collaboration between art and science, the project translates scientific concepts into creative artifacts for children from different schools in the Community of Madrid. Through active listening and observation, participants are encouraged to shift their gaze toward the ground they walk on daily, addressing global issues such as climate change from a more immediate and situated scale. Student participation unfolds through the reception of personal narratives -constructing their own routes- and culminates in collective artistic action, highlighting the potential of art-based educational experiences to foster collective bonds in the face of climate urgency.

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Author Biography

  • Irene Ortega López, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Investigadora predoctoral con contrato FPU en el Departamento de Escultura y Formación Artística de la Facultad de Bellas Artes (UCM). Grado en Bellas Artes (UCM), Grado en Psicología (UNED) y Máster en Historia del Arte Contemporáneo y Cultura Visual (UCM, UAM, MNCARS). Actualmente, desarrolla su proyecto de tesis en torno a los recursos compartidos entre el arte contemporáneo y la expresión humorística y el potencial pedagógico de estos. Igualmente, desarrolla su investigación en torno a las posibilidades de la escritura en la investigación artística. Es educadora e investigadora del Museo Pedagógico de Arte Infantil (MuPAI).

References

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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2019). Climate change and land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157988

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Quiñonero, S., & González, J. (2023). Arte ambiental en la escuela: Empatía y concienciación a través de la educación visual y plástica [Environmental art at school: Empathy and awareness through visual and plastic art education]. Ensayos sobre arte y educación, 14, 122–132. https://doi.org/10.7203/eari.14.25919

Smith, P., Adams, J., Beerling, D. J., Beringer, T., Calvin, K. V., Fuss, S., Griscom, B., Hasegawa, T., Kato, E., Keith, D. W., Krey, V., Luderer, G., Millar, R. J., Minx, J. C., Nemet, G. F., Rogelj, J., Sharifi, A., Torvanger, A., & Yongsung, C. (2019). Chapter 4: Land degradation. En P. R. Shukla et al. (Eds.), Climate change and land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (pp. 345–436). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-4/

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Published

2026-07-31

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 30 (2026): Institutions, Organizations, the Digital World, and Other Spaces for the Development of Knowledge and Culture

Section

Artículos temáticos del número

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Copyright (c) 2026 María Gil Gayo, Irene Ortega López

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How to Cite

Gil Gayo, M. and Ortega López, I. (2026) “From Personal Experience to Global Awareness: Art-Based Educational Practices Addressing Urban Desertification”, Tercio Creciente, 30(30), pp. 7–15. doi:10.17561/rtc.30.9894.