Resilience through Innovation & Sustainability
The third day of the 4th Transnational Meeting of the Erasmus+ ARTisGReen project demonstrated with clarity how the initiative continues to bridge traditional artistic practice, cultural heritage, and contemporary creative discourse — all within the framework of sustainability and European cooperation.
RTIS Network, represented by the 4th Lyceum of Alimos, joined partners from Greece 🇬🇷, Romania 🇷🇴, Türkiye 🇹🇷, Poland 🇵🇱, Portugal 🇵🇹, and Estonia 🇪🇪 for a programme that moved seamlessly from the tactile to the architectural, and from the historic to the avant-garde.
🏺 Morning Session | Ceramics & Calligraphy: The Discipline of Material and Gesture
The day commenced at the Państwowe Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych im. Constantina Brancusiego w Szczecinie — the project’s esteemed Polish host institution — where students divided into two rotating groups to engage with two foundational artistic disciplines.
Ceramics introduced participants to the tactile intelligence of clay. Working with a natural, sustainable material, students explored form, volume, and the meditative rhythm of the wheel and hand. For Greek participants, the workshop resonated with the deep ceramic traditions of their own cultural heritage — from ancient amphorae to contemporary studio practice — while framing the activity within the project’s commitment to eco-friendly materials and circular economy principles.
Calligraphy offered a counterpoint of precision and restraint. With ink, pen, and paper, students practiced the architecture of letterforms — a discipline that demands patience, focus, and respect for both tool and material. In an era of digital saturation, the workshop reinforced a central ARTisGReen principle: that sustainability in arts education requires a balance between technical mastery and creative expression, between the hand and the screen.
These workshops directly support the project’s objective to develop key competencies among students and educators through interdisciplinary, STEAM-integrated learning .
⛪ Midday Session | Archcathedral Basilica of St. James: Heritage, Height, and Horizon
Following a shared lunch, the delegation proceeded to one of Szczecin’s most significant architectural monuments: the Archcathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle (Bazylika Archikatedralna pw. św. Jakuba Apostoła).
The basilica — the tallest church in Western Pomerania at 110.18 metres, and the second-tallest in Poland — represents centuries of resilience. Its origins trace to the 12th century, and its history includes destruction by fire in the 17th century and heavy bombardment during the Second World War, followed by successive reconstructions that restored its Gothic splendour .
Participants ascended to the observation terrace at a height of 56 metres, accessed via modern lifts, where they were rewarded with a panoramic view of Szczecin — the Oder River, the red rooftops of the old town, and the surrounding forests and waterways .
For the ARTisGReen delegation, the visit was more than a tourist activity. The basilica serves as a living lesson in heritage preservation as a form of sustainability — the careful stewardship of cultural and architectural resources across generations. It also offered a moment of shared reflection and visual perspective, reinforcing the project’s emphasis on wellbeing and the connection between environment, culture, and community .
🖼️ Afternoon Session | TRAFO Gallery: KENBO and the Frontiers of Contemporary Practice
The day concluded at TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki — a former power station transformed into one of Poland’s leading centres for contemporary art . The venue itself embodies the project’s ethos of reuse, transformation, and creative reinvention.
The delegation visited the exhibition of Chinese artist KENBO (Liang Guojian), whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses experimental ink painting, installation, video, and sound. The exhibition — structured around the four Mandarin tones of “ā á ǎ à” — operates as a meditation on language, migration, memory, and cultural translation.
For ARTisGReen participants, the exhibition offered a powerful demonstration of how contemporary art engages with themes of identity, displacement, and environmental consciousness — themes that resonate deeply with the project’s objectives around inclusion, resilience, and the creation of synergies between diverse artistic practices and education providers .
🎯 Alignment with ARTisGReen Objectives
Day 3 contributed directly to the project’s stated goals:
| Objective | Day 3 Contribution |
|---|---|
| O1 – Integrate sustainability into teaching practices | Ceramics workshop using natural materials; heritage preservation as sustainability model |
| O2 – Develop key competencies among students and educators | Hands-on skill development in ceramics, calligraphy, and critical engagement with contemporary art |
| O3 – New methods based on interdisciplinarity and STEAM | Integration of traditional craft, architecture, heritage, and contemporary art into a single learning arc |
| O4 – Increase involvement of vulnerable groups | Inclusive workshop structure; accessible cultural visits open to all participants |
🤝 Acknowledgements
RTIS Network and the 4th Lyceum of Alimos express their sincere appreciation to Państwowe Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych im. Constantina Brancusiego w Szczecinie for the organisation of the day’s programme, and to the institutions that welcomed our delegation: the Archcathedral Basilica of St. James and TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki.
🔗 Relevant Links
- ARTisGReen Project | Erasmus+ KA220-SCH Cooperation Partnership: European Commission Project Card
- ARTisGReen Overview | Project objectives and results: OpenAIRE
- Host Institution | Państwowe Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych im. Constantina Brancusiego w Szczecinie: Official Website
- TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki | Centre for Contemporary Art: trafo.art
- Archcathedral Basilica of St. James | Visit Szczecin: visitszczecin.eu
- Erasmus+ Programme | EU Funding for Education: erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu
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