A school as a driver of change for its neighborhood
A school as a driver of change for its neighborhood
A school as a driver of change for its neighborhood
“Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas” is how the children of this public school have defined their climate mission for the coming years. They presented it at a “children’s press conference” during the ClimaX event, held at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center.
Last Friday, February 14, something very special happened at Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, a public preschool and primary school located on Alconera Street, in the San Blas-Canillejas neighborhood of Madrid. From early in the morning, a caravan of students, families, and teachers traveled through the streets of the neighborhood, making visible the school’s desire to open up to its surroundings and become a meeting point for the community.
The caravan arrived at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center, where the ClimaX event: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, began. In front of an audience of 400 people, a group of students from the school shared in a “children’s press conference” their excitement about making their school the heart of the neighborhood. With great emotion and commitment, they dreamed of ideas to strengthen collaboration with their environment, such as working with the police and neighbors to improve safety, fostering connections between different generations, making their school a space for exchanging clothes, toys, and books, collaborating with local businesses and cinemas, with the health center, and filling the streets near the school with greenery.
A video starring the students themselves was then presented, showing their new playground: a renovated space with trees, gardens, a vegetable garden, a compost bin, multi-sport courts, and many elements that spark creative and free play. But the dreams of these children go far beyond that, as they dream of turning this playground into a large outdoor classroom, a climate refuge for the entire neighborhood, a meeting place where they can camp, take care of animals, and enjoy community life. An inclusive and diverse playground where the whole neighborhood can gather to play, filled with respect and hugs.
These dreams are not only shared by the students of the school. Over 40 organizations from the neighborhood have joined in dreaming: teachers from Valle Inclán School, mothers and fathers, mediators from the Roma community, staff from the cafeteria and extracurricular activities. Other schools from the neighborhood—ranging from preschools and primary schools to high schools—and the Ponce de León Educational Center, which is also a pilot school for the Clim-Action project , have also participated. Additionally, neighborhood associations, organizations working with children, adolescents, elderly people, people with disabilities, and disease prevention, environmental groups, the health center, and the business incubator have joined. Representatives from the Madrid City Council and the San Blas-Canillejas District Municipal Board, as well as managers of cultural spaces such as Open Space Quinta de los Molinos and the Antonio Machado Cultural Center, have also participated.
To celebrate this spirit of community, the students have invited the entire neighborhood to a big party in their playground at the beginning of summer, an event they will design and organize themselves. Their goal is to demonstrate, through play and joy, how an open playground can unite an entire neighborhood.
As a grand finale, artists Óscar Bueno and Anto Rodríguez set the music to the dreams with a karaoke titled originally “Hay un lugar” where the entire audience sang along with the school’s orchestra. Meanwhile, the artist Ana Salom brought these dreams to life through live illustrations projected on the stage
This activity is part of the Clim-Action: educational alliance for climate action, promoted by the Montemadrid Foundation, the Atelier itd, the Institute of Educational Sciences (ICE), and the Innovation Center in Technology for Human Development (itdUPM), both from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Its goal is to integrate education for climate action into schools.
The Clim-Action project involves two educational centers, each with a pilot initiative chosen by its own educational community.
One of them is Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, and the event ClimaX: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, is one of the outcomes of the pilot project chosen through a participatory process based on active listening from the educational community. It aims to integrate climate action both in the classrooms and in the school environment, strengthening the bonds with the neighborhood.
The process of listening to the students and local community members, as well as curating the ClimaX event, was carried out by Manuel Pascual from the Zuloark collective and Antonella Broglia.
The other participating school is the Ponce de León Educational Center of the Montemadrid Foundation, bilingual in both oral language and sign language, a leader in the education of deaf individuals and the integration of people with other disabilities. Their pilot project focuses on teacher training and curriculum review. In this initiative, teachers at all educational levels, from preschool to vocational education and special education, participate in a training program designed to integrate the ecosocial approach and climate action into the annual curriculum planning and learning situations. The training sessions are provided by FUHEM.
“Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas” is how the children of this public school have defined their climate mission for the coming years. They presented it at a “children’s press conference” during the ClimaX event, held at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center.
“Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas” is how the children of this public school have defined their climate mission for the coming years. They presented it at a “children’s press conference” during the ClimaX event, held at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center.
Last Friday, February 14, something very special happened at Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, a public preschool and primary school located on Alconera Street, in the San Blas-Canillejas neighborhood of Madrid. From early in the morning, a caravan of students, families, and teachers traveled through the streets of the neighborhood, making visible the school’s desire to open up to its surroundings and become a meeting point for the community.
The caravan arrived at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center, where the ClimaX event: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, began. In front of an audience of 400 people, a group of students from the school shared in a “children’s press conference” their excitement about making their school the heart of the neighborhood. With great emotion and commitment, they dreamed of ideas to strengthen collaboration with their environment, such as working with the police and neighbors to improve safety, fostering connections between different generations, making their school a space for exchanging clothes, toys, and books, collaborating with local businesses and cinemas, with the health center, and filling the streets near the school with greenery.
A video starring the students themselves was then presented, showing their new playground: a renovated space with trees, gardens, a vegetable garden, a compost bin, multi-sport courts, and many elements that spark creative and free play. But the dreams of these children go far beyond that, as they dream of turning this playground into a large outdoor classroom, a climate refuge for the entire neighborhood, a meeting place where they can camp, take care of animals, and enjoy community life. An inclusive and diverse playground where the whole neighborhood can gather to play, filled with respect and hugs.
Last Friday, February 14, something very special happened at Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, a public preschool and primary school located on Alconera Street, in the San Blas-Canillejas neighborhood of Madrid. From early in the morning, a caravan of students, families, and teachers traveled through the streets of the neighborhood, making visible the school’s desire to open up to its surroundings and become a meeting point for the community.
The caravan arrived at the Antonio Machado Cultural Center, where the ClimaX event: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, began. In front of an audience of 400 people, a group of students from the school shared in a “children’s press conference” their excitement about making their school the heart of the neighborhood. With great emotion and commitment, they dreamed of ideas to strengthen collaboration with their environment, such as working with the police and neighbors to improve safety, fostering connections between different generations, making their school a space for exchanging clothes, toys, and books, collaborating with local businesses and cinemas, with the health center, and filling the streets near the school with greenery.
A video starring the students themselves was then presented, showing their new playground: a renovated space with trees, gardens, a vegetable garden, a compost bin, multi-sport courts, and many elements that spark creative and free play. But the dreams of these children go far beyond that, as they dream of turning this playground into a large outdoor classroom, a climate refuge for the entire neighborhood, a meeting place where they can camp, take care of animals, and enjoy community life. An inclusive and diverse playground where the whole neighborhood can gather to play, filled with respect and hugs.
This activity is part of the Clim-Action: educational alliance for climate action, promoted by the Montemadrid Foundation, the Atelier itd, the Institute of Educational Sciences (ICE), and the Innovation Center in Technology for Human Development (itdUPM), both from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Its goal is to integrate education for climate action into schools.
The Clim-Action project involves two educational centers, each with a pilot initiative chosen by its own educational community.
One of them is Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, and the event ClimaX: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, is one of the outcomes of the pilot project chosen through a participatory process based on active listening from the educational community. It aims to integrate climate action both in the classrooms and in the school environment, strengthening the bonds with the neighborhood.
The process of listening to the students and local community members, as well as curating the ClimaX event, was carried out by Manuel Pascual from the Zuloark collective and Antonella Broglia.
The other participating school is the Ponce de León Educational Center of the Montemadrid Foundation, bilingual in both oral language and sign language, a leader in the education of deaf individuals and the integration of people with other disabilities. Their pilot project focuses on teacher training and curriculum review. In this initiative, teachers at all educational levels, from preschool to vocational education and special education, participate in a training program designed to integrate the ecosocial approach and climate action into the annual curriculum planning and learning situations. The training sessions are provided by FUHEM.
This activity is part of the Clim-Action: educational alliance for climate action, promoted by the Montemadrid Foundation, the Atelier itd, the Institute of Educational Sciences (ICE), and the Innovation Center in Technology for Human Development (itdUPM), both from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Its goal is to integrate education for climate action into schools.
The Clim-Action project involves two educational centers, each with a pilot initiative chosen by its own educational community.
One of them is Ramón María del Valle Inclán School, and the event ClimaX: Valle Inclán, Heart of San Blas, is one of the outcomes of the pilot project chosen through a participatory process based on active listening from the educational community. It aims to integrate climate action both in the classrooms and in the school environment, strengthening the bonds with the neighborhood.
The process of listening to the students and local community members, as well as curating the ClimaX event, was carried out by Manuel Pascual from the Zuloark collective and Antonella Broglia.
The other participating school is the Ponce de León Educational Center of the Montemadrid Foundation, bilingual in both oral language and sign language, a leader in the education of deaf individuals and the integration of people with other disabilities. Their pilot project focuses on teacher training and curriculum review. In this initiative, teachers at all educational levels, from preschool to vocational education and special education, participate in a training program designed to integrate the ecosocial approach and climate action into the annual curriculum planning and learning situations. The training sessions are provided by FUHEM.