Reading The City Tuscany 2012

Tinta Education David Powell Course Leader

The Origins of Reading the City

SMILE a Comenius 3.2 teacher education project 1999 2002 The Learning Eye Trials in Visual Literacy 2002-2004 Grundvig

The major principles behind the creation of Reading the City

In 50 years time 80% of the population of the world will live in or near a city (United Nations) The future of Europe is an urban future The major urban areas of Europe are growing Many of our smaller towns are shrinking

Some other factors

Migration within Europe Migration from outside Europe A multicultural society

Some major themes

Many countries have used urban environmental eduction as a support to the major subjects of the curiculum
On this course we want to study the city in its own right

We have chosen as our major topics

Communication and the city Structures in the city cultural, political, social, artistic etc Orientation in the city Perception and the city Identity issues and the city

Reading Cities as Texts

Complex and multi-layered information

objects, images, sounds, words, movement

Who wrote the city? Who did they write it for? Why did they write it? Who reads it now?

Using Cities as Museums

The City as a museum The City an open air museum of buildings

Lectures dicussing different aspects of urbanism Practical projects Examples relating directly to children, young people or adults Creating your own knowledge

Didactic concepts/ Ways of learning

Formal or informal Oral/visual Logical Intrapersonal Spatial Kinetic Interpersonal etc

Our values
to enable people to explore their environment through their own eyes and their own experiences. we are not trying to teach about a particular citiy directly, but to develope flexible methods that can be used in a variety of European cities. to avoid stereotypes the project is also committed to inclusion: involving a wide range of schools, rural and urban, especially those with a high percentage of ethnic minority children so that the European city is seen as a pluralist, multicultural city and not one restricted to the traditional cultures of the member states.

What are the goals of built environment education?

to develop an understanding of the way in which the spaces people occupy are designed and how this may influence the lives that they lead to increase awareness of environmental quality and the develop a sense of responsibility for the environment to share identities with others through the presentation of where and how people live In a European context - to show what is significant to those that live in a place and not what a foreigner should see.

Conclusion

By undertaking the reading the City course and activities we hope to enable you to help your own pupils/students in an exploration of their own city/town. An exploration carried out through their own eyes and experiences and leading perhaps to an increased active role as active European citizens.

Participants countries
Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic England Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Island Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Montserrat W.I. Poland Portugal Romania Scotland Slovenia Slovakia Spain South Africa Sweden Turkey

Using the environment as a teaching aid

2006 The SMILE book concentrating on museums , the built environment and identity was published.

Think global, act global with a regional touch