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Things Talk - global environmental education for children

From the 7-18 December 2009, Denmark was the host of COP15, the 15th UN International Climate Change Conference.

The education project Things Talk - Children, Climate and Waste Art, aims to provide children with a voice in the global climate change debate.

Things Talk creates a global platform where children can voice their ideas, worries and future dreams with regard to how climate changes affect the world they live in both globally and locally.

An educational course with waste

Things Talk is a worldwide climate change educational project for children between 10-12 years old. School classes throughout the world will be invited to work with the subject of climate change for one to two weeks. The practical artistic starting point is waste and rubbish from the homes and neighbourhoods of the children, which will be collected and used in a creative course, where children create sculptures from waste.

The aim is to use art and the children’s imaginations to find new and surprising ways to relate to and learn about climate change issues. The classes will be required to relate to the past, present and future of the items they collect. What was the item used for? Why has it been thrown away? What significance will the item have in the waste art piece? What will happen to it in the future?

The teacher will make a connection between the waste aspect and the existing local environmental problems and global climate changes. In the last part of the working phase, the children will document their work through photos and short climate statements, which will be shared with children in other countries via the project website.

The Children’s Climate Change Conference and exhibition

A selection of the children’s waste sculptures were presented to the participants of COP15 as a part of Things Talk - Children's Creative Climate Camp, which took place in Ballerup and Rødovre 2-6 December 2009. The children’s waste sculptures and their short climate statements can be regarded as the voices of the children.

At the Children’s Creative Climate Camp, children from 15 countries developed their thoughts about climate change through an artistic and democratic process in collaboration with professional artists.

Fundamental concepts about art, climate and democracy

The educational project Things Talk is about how children, through an artistic and creative process, can relate critically to the huge challenges that environmental issues and climate changes present to the world. The project has three fundamental concepts, the artistic idea, the democratic idea and the green idea. The three concepts must be seen in context and are closely connected.