EcoSenda is a three-year Erasmus+ cooperation project (2024–2027) that brings together four European art universities to rethink how ecological sustainability can be embedded in contemporary arts education and artistic practice (or practices?). The project strengthens the green skills of artist-teachers and art & design students, while developing sustainable methods for creating, teaching and exhibiting art.
The project begins with a comprehensive mapping of current practices, during which the partners examine ecological art practices across Europe by interviewing artists and curators and collecting sustainable working models. This study is complemented with a glossary of concepts and theories that are significant to the project and for a wider understanding of sustainable artistic work.
Parallel to the theoretical study, international groups of students and teachers participate in field working residences held in ecologically significant environments. The fossil fuel mining town of Kohtlajärve in Estonia, the island of Korppoo in the Finnish archipelago, sand dunes and wetlands in The Hague, Netherlands and German forest areas near Cologne.
Building on the findings from these activities, each institution proceeds to redesign its curricula—such as sculpture, painting, media art and design—so that they reflect the project’s ecological insights. It will also produce redesigned fine arts and design curricula that embed ecological principles into teaching and learning.
EcoSenda shares its outcomes widely through open dissemination, including an online Toolkit, a series of public lectures and exhibitions showcasing both the artworks and the artistic processes developed during the project. Finally, the project will strengthen a network of eco‑aware artist‑teachers, known as Eco Mentors, who will continue to promote sustainable practices in their own institutions and professional communities.
