The “New Earth” Minor is one of the graduation profiles that can be chosen by students coming from various disciplines at Willem de Kooning Academy. Part of Social Practices (as opposed to Commercial and Autonomous practices), the Minor specialises on socially/politically engaged, cooperative/relational creative works that specifically address ecological themes and issues. It is assumed that students do not have any prior structured learning on these topics; they are mostly driven by personal interest and therefore have uneven and ‘patchy’ understandings of the subject matter, which calls for establishing some common ground and developing a shared language before initiating their collaborative projects.
The semester opens with the “Ecological Crash Course”: an intensive class to confront the multiple emergencies we face. The following questions frame the 5 full-day sessions spread over 3 weeks:
The ECC is structured with an ‘opening act’ intended to destabilise preconceived ideas, two ‘downer days’ (focusing on problems) and two ‘upper days’ (focusing on solutions). The lesson plan below is for ECC Day #5 on Climate Justice and System Change, which was followed by the field trip to the Climate Strike in Utrecht later that week.
The two previous ‘downer days’ of the ECC focused on the depth and complexity of the ecological breakdown, and on the predominant responses and solutions that are either inadequate or misguided. These were (intentionally) heavy, dispiriting topics which left the students with (eco-) anxiety, grief and anger. They were eager to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” and therefore came with curiosity and high expectations for the hopeful, activating content. We met outside the Academy, in a bright and cosy community center. During the break, we shared a communal vegan lunch.
Students were asked to stay with the (negative) feelings generated by the previous sessions, and eventually to hold conversations about the topics with their friends and relatives. No further preparatory assignments were given due to the short duration between the sessions.