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Environment protection is a
very serious concern in today’s world. It is not a secret anymore that the
Earth is in danger, and although multinational companies and influential
people try to deny it, the deforestations, pollution, and intense
urbanization’s effects on our planet will be devastating.
In order to avoid this to
happen, young people should get more involved and fight against the
destruction of our planet. I believe young artists from all over the world
could create a global movement for environment protection with the help of
modern technology. In every big city parks should be transformed into
giant opened-air art expositions. Stone, paper, glass, ceramics, wood,
metal, or any other materials that could be used in order to create an
art-object should be available. Youth should use their imagination in
order to create original art objects and discuss on environment protection
issues with specialists and members of the authorities. There should also
be internet access points where youth could get in contact with their
partners from other countries. The artworks should be then exchanged
between the different youth groups from all over the world, exposed and/or
sold in a different country in order to attract the public and raise funds
for supporting environment protection. For example, the traditional jewels
created by a indigenous youth group from the Amazon region should reach
the Parisian public, while the pictures of French youth, should be exposed
somewhere in the middle of the jungle. In order to achieve this, a free
transport network should be created in order to make sure that youth can
afford expedition fees for sending their artworks to different
destinations.
Photography and clips
should also be used as a way of promoting a nation’s natural beauty. Youth
could sent their original pictures through the internet and, in the
partner country, the pictures could be printed on T-shirts, cups, etc
.These small objects could offer the public a different perspective on
our planet. It is known that people are more sensitive when it comes to
saving “exotic places”, than protecting their own country’s natural
richness. Therefore, I believe the international community should discover
, one by one, all the countries of the world and their beauties and , as a
feed-back, make their citizens understand how important it is to fight
for environment protection in the place where they live in. Another idea
would be to use the modern technology developed by France Telecom and
other companies of “communicating clothing”, which displays animated
graphics on the wearer; in order to present nature in a new and modern
light. Youth could make short, but attractive video presentations on
nature themes to be put on clothes, mobile phones , or even to be
presented on small screens in the public transport and shopping areas,
thus creating a big contrast between our artificial and monotone world and
the spontaneity and originality of nature. After watching a few beautiful
images, people might be more eager to donate money for supporting nature’s
cause.
Small steps have already
been taken in this direction. A new Romanian foundation, named “Sunflower
Kids”, dedicated all its efforts for bringing youth closer to nature. In
the summer of 2005, the foundation created three youth camps in very
beautiful, but previously unknown, natural areas of the country. Youth
were invited to learn how to row, ride a horse, climb the mountains, or
study wild animals, but also attended a few “theoretical classes”. The
courses focused on environment protection and ecology, but offered
information about medicinal plants, animal life and geology, too. Art was
also present. Children were taught how to draw the landscapes they liked
or make artistically photos. All the drawings and photos were then
re-distributed around the group and the children were asked to create a
story or a poem starting from that image. Unfortunately, neither the
literary works nor the photos could be published due to the lack of funds.
The last day was dedicated to Romanian traditions regarding nature and its
beings: children learned about myths, legends, superstitions and ancient
witchcraft rituals and were invited tell their own stories around a
friendly fire camp.
Another example would be
that of a school from the Capital of Romania, Bucharest, who, in
partnership with the mayoralty, launched a “get out of the house” campaign
for its students. Children were encouraged to visit one of the city’s
biggest parks, Herastrau, and learn about gardening. In order to do this,
they were given a small plot of land and, after being taught how to take
care of the plants, they were free to decide how they wanted that space to
look like. They could choose between a wide variety of seeds and they
could even plant small trees. A lot of garden-deco objects were available
for them and they were free to bring more, as well as give their space any
form, any color, any relief or any style. The only rule was that the
small-garden had to express a certain message, to be a real composition.
Therefore, younger children collaborated with teenagers in creating very
original artworks, some inspired by books, movies, real monuments, holyday
places, persons or more abstract ideas like childhood, happiness, wisdom,
and peace. The major disadvantage was that the park had no security and as
soon as the children left, their work was exposed to the danger of being
destroyed by anybody who wanted to. Another problem was that the teams
often changed their composition as children abandoned the project because
of parent’s pressure to give more of their time to school. I believe that
school’s teachers could have been invited to get involved, too, in this
project, or at least support kids` efforts, because this was an
educational campaign. Future plans of the school’s principal include
contacting Japan’s Embassy for organizing an “ikebana “course for the
students.
It is small acts like these
that will eventually help stop the decline of our planet. We must act now
for once we lose nature, we will never get it back. |
