Sarah Healy

2.22 Navigating Climate Tipping Points: Art Education and the Anthropocene (Paper)

Sarah Healy – SWSIP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

This presentation examines art education as a critical site for cultivating ecological awareness in the Anthropocene, informed by SWISP Lab’s “Hacking the Anthropocene” (HAK.io) project. This paper provides a theoretical and practical analysis of art education’s unique role in engaging young people with climate challenges. Aligned with the InSEA Congress themes, we consider how art education bridges “Unexpected Territories” and navigates “Shifting Grounds” in unknown climate futures. The Anthropocene – though scientifically contested – offers a valuable orientation for preparing future teachers to address environmental crises. Collaborating with Science Gallery International, SWISP Lab’s participatory research centres youth through creative expressions that capture “tipping points”: personal realisations of socio-ecological change, crisis, or collapse. These critical moments embody the “unexpected territories” and “shifting grounds” art education must traverse while revealing how climate change is interwoven with everyday experiences. We share stories, Zines and protest badges from HAK.io participants, highlighting how art education enables students to confront social and ecological challenges both individually and collectively. This approach, extending beyond traditional curricula, offers students a space to process climate grief and envision reparative futures. Through art-based methods, we build capacity and promote climate justice. We argue this requires a radical shift in teacher education, emphasizing intergenerational responsibility and response-ability. Art education, as a “territory for education through art,” provides vital, transformative pathways to empower youth as agents of change in the Anthropocene, resonating with InSEA’s mission of inclusive and forward-thinking art pedagogy.

10.11 Speculative Pasts and Pedagogical Imaginaries: A Symposium on Learning Through Art for Future Nows (Workshop)

Sarah Healy – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

Section 1: Reimagining Art Education: Speculative Pedagogies and Creative Practices

Rachel Fendler

Janeke Wienk

Eva-Maria Schitter

Wilfried Swoboda

Section 2: Ecological and Embodied Approaches to Art Education

Zohreh Valiary Eskandary

Sandeep Kaur Glover

Lucia Hornak

Section 3: Collaborative and Reflective Practices in Art Education

Jutta Strohmaier  & Elisabeth Makovec

Lucy Bartholomee

Pin-Hsuan Tseng

Rolf Laven

Abstract:

This 90-minute symposium-style session introduces Speculative Pasts and Pedagogical Imaginaries, the fourth volume in the InSEA Learning Through Art (LTA) series. This collection explores how art education can foster relationality, integrity, and responsibility as we collectively navigate an uncertain future. Rooted in speculative and futures-oriented pedagogies, the volume captures diverse metho-pedagogical approaches that challenge power dynamics, promote equity, and encourage rethinking art’s role in curricula and knowledge frameworks. The session will be hosted by Sarah Healy, one of the book editors and feature the contributing authors who are attending the Congress. These authors will make a short presentation, each offering unique insights into art education’s potential to act as a threshold for “learning, unlearning, and learning anew.”

Themes span Indigenous conceptualisations of time, art education as a catalyst for acting responsibly, and speculative pedagogies that reimagine how we relate to and interpret pasts, presents, and futures. These contributions highlight art education’s capacity to create “response-able” spaces for inquiry and possibility in the Anthropocene. In alignment with the symposium’s speculative approach, attendees will actively engage by generating creative responses to each presentation. Through this participatory format, the symposium aims to expand the book’s themes into a collaborative exploration of speculative futures in art education with congress participants. Together, we will investigate the question, “What if?” – challenging dominant narratives and diversifying art education. This symposium promises to be a generative space where scholarly discourse and creative practice converge to (re)envision art education’s role in just futures.

10.47 Crafting a Manifesto for Climate Education Through Art: Engaging Unexpected Territories (Workshop)

Sarah Healy – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Yvette Walker – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Anna Farago – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

This 90-minute workshop is a collaborative initiative by SWISP Lab in partnership with Science Gallery International, and in conversation with Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA). We invite art educators and researchers to collaboratively create a manifesto for climate education through art, intended for COP30. Aligned with the InSEA Congress themes of “Unexpected Territories,” “Shifting Grounds,” and “Permanence,” the workshop aims to position art education as critical to climate education.

We begin by examining why, despite decades of IPCC warnings, climate education remains absent from many curricula. Drawing on data from The University of Melbourne SWISP Lab’s youth-centred research, we will discuss art educators’ ethical responsibility to address intergenerational environmental crises and empower students to navigate social and ecological challenges. We will then explore the concept of the Anthropocene as a framework to understand humanity’s impact on the planet’s ecosystems. Although the term remains debated, the Anthropocene offers a compelling perspective to reimagine education as a pathway to build ecological awareness and resilience. Drawing inspiration from SWISP Lab’s “Hacking the Anthropocene” project, participants will examine “tipping points” – key moments that spark critical ecological insight and understanding.

The workshop culminates in the creation of a draft manifesto through Surrealist-inspired methods, including automatic writing and the Exquisite Corpse technique. This process allows participants to generate bold, collective statements on the transformative role of art in climate education. The resulting manifesto will reflect diverse perspectives and provide actionable principles for integrating climate literacy into art education. Outcomes: • A draft manifesto for climate education through art, to be further refined and presented at COP30. • Creative methodologies for engaging art educators in climate discourse. This workshop advances scholarly dialogue on art education’s role in cultivating ecological consciousness and capacity to act.