1st Arts Forum on Education

More than 400 people attended the 1st Forum of the Arts in Education, organized by the National Council of Culture and the Arts (CoNCA) at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, with the motto Education in the arts, a condition of citizens' right to culture. In addition, about 700 people connected online to the plenary sessions "The reasons for the arts in education", the presentation of the "Cartography of the Arts in Education", "Models of action" and “The training of trainers”. The President of the CoNCA, Vinyet Panyella, took part in the inauguration of the Forum; the Minister of Education, Josep Gonzàlez Cambray; the Minister of Research and Universities, Gemma Geis, the Director General of Innovation and Culture of the Department of Culture, Marisol López (on behalf of the Minister Natalia Garriga) and the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Education, Science and Community 'Barcelona City Council, Jordi Martí.

The Forum has made the first firm commitments from the Government and local administrations to make the incorporation of the arts into compulsory education a reality. These agreements, which were widely celebrated by the education and cultural sector present at the conference, consist of specific measures such as the Department of Education, the Department of Research and Universities and the Department of Culture of the Government of the Generalitat. they undertake to set up a permanent working group representing the three Departments for the coordination and integration of actions to address the presence of the arts and culture in education. The Director General of Innovation, Digitization and Curriculum of the Department of Education, Joan Cuevas, the Director General of Territorial and Social Impact of Knowledge of the Department of Research and Universities, Francesc Xavier Quinquillà, and the Director General of Innovation and Culture Digital of the Department of Culture, Marisol López, announce the initiatives that have been agreed and that will work together in this group:

• Concretize programs for the promotion of the arts in compulsory education. This commission will work, among other things, on possible measures related to the training of trainers, the promotion of new programs to incorporate the arts in other subjects and in the hours of autonomous management of the centers, and to promote the col · Collaboration between cultural agents of the territory and the educational centers, of homogeneous way in the territorial and social field.
• Detect, focus and disseminate successful experiences that promote the arts in schools and extend them to other schools. They must be programs that work the arts proposed by both schools and the artistic and cultural world. The specific objective must be to facilitate access to good practice and to promote materials, events and training for the extension of successful initiatives.
• To promote the organization of higher artistic education within the university system of Catalonia.
• Take advantage of the work of identifying and concentrating information and initiatives for the implementation of an arts observatory in education that allows access to an overview and system of artistic education at all stages of education , both formally and non-formally.

With regard to local administrations, the head of the Culture and Language Area of the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM), Josep Berga and the president of the People Services area (Culture Commission) of the Federació de Municipis de Catalunya (FMC), Eduard Rivas, have announced the commitment agreed by the four provincial councils, county councils and town councils of Catalonia: the creation of a space for knowledge and advice on good practices and inspiring experiences formed by the four provincial councils, the county councils and the town councils of Catalonia represented by the Catalan Federation of Municipalities and the Catalan Association of Municipalities.

Within the framework of the Forum, a first version of the Cartography of the Arts in Education in Catalonia was also presented, a map under construction that aims to bring out the existing initiatives in schools and institutes in the early childhood stages. compulsory primary and secondary education, encouraging the relationship and exchange between the centers. In addition, eighteen cultural entities and educational centers spoke about the set of dialogues and explained their experiences and artistic projects. The enthusiasm and commitment of the cultural and educational sector to the working groups “The curricular presence of artistic languages”, “The arts as the backbone of a school project”, “The training of teachers”, “The training of the secondary school teachers ”and“ The pedagogical training of arts and mediation professionals ”have contributed to the elaboration of the Charter of the Arts in Education. In closing, Jordi Font and Núria Iceta, members of the CoNCA Plenary, read the manifesto of the Charter of the Arts in Education with a statement of principles. The forty recommendations that emerged from the fruit of the Forum's working groups, as well as the commitments made by the administrations, will be compiled and presented at the next meeting of the Governing Council to be held on April 20, 2022.

Finally, the creation of a Standing Committee was announced, which will be responsible for monitoring the open process and convening, every two years, successive editions of the Forum, aimed at taking stock and promoting the updating of approaches and commitments. . The CoNCA has organized this meeting space between the education and cultural sector with the participation of the Governing Council of the Arts Forum on Education, made up of the Department of Education, the Department of Culture and the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as representatives of the four Catalan provincial councils, Barcelona City Council, the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia (FMC), the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM), the Catalan Foundation Coordinator, the Jaume Bofill Foundation and the Interarts Foundation.