Our creative workshops are part environmental awareness campaign, part global learning and part practical construction of objects out of waste materials.

Playfulness, exploration and experiential learning – we believe this to be the ideal way to teach children about waste. We join forces in looking for questions and answers. We take a look at how people from various parts of the world approach the waste problem and how they approached it in the past.

At the workshops, we take a hands-on approach to waste, through old handicrafts used in modern ways. We remake the old and seemingly useless into something new and useful. Children create things from trash and explore their possible uses through play. In the meantime, we ask ourselves what would it be like to live in a world where everything circulated, resulting in effectively zero waste.

But first and foremost, we do it all without any finger-wagging and bad vibes.

Experienced mentors guide and direct the participants and encourage them to be creative. We try to create objects that are useful.

What we offer:

• global learning workshops with a playfully presented section on theory and practical creative work with collected trash,
• visits at kindergartens, schools, institutions, picnics or festivals (we adapt to the circumstances and to the size, age, previous knowledge and interests of the group and introduce participants to practical and theoretical work or just carry out a practical and creative workshop on recycling),
• implementation of our workshop at birthday parties (children’s or adults’) or planning of the whole party,
• workshops for all generations – children, adolescents and adults, mixed groups are possible as well,
• planning of creative workshops tailored to your or your company’s wishes and preferred topics
• courses and workshops for mentors and teachers in schools or kindergartens

Check out our workshop catalogues and contact us – we’re looking forward to working together with you.

       

What is global learning?

It is a teaching approach that focuses on the global interconnectedness of everything. An approach that teaches that the question of who had made our clothes is connected to us and our reality. And that, for example, the way we treat waste has a significant impact on people living on other continents.

The concept involves global topics that are important for all of us but that we’re often ignorant of. The aim of global learning is to create an aware, critical and active civil society that works towards changes for the better, both locally and globally, and to present alternative ways of becoming personally active.

(Summarized from the definition published in 2008 by the Global Education Working Group, part of the SLOGA platform, which Smetumet has been a member of from the very beginning.)

Which creative techniques are used at the workshops?

We keep finding inspiration in old handicrafts practiced by our grandmothers, in techniques from the antiquity and from other cultures. We expand our knowledge through education, experimentation and play with materials.

In general, our creative work follows the principles of sustainable design, and we encourage participants to think about what will happen to the object they’re creating once it has served its purpose. If at all possible, we avoid using glue, rather sticking to folding, sewing, fastening, etc. We’re also careful not to create new waste with our work. These are just some of the principles we communicate to the participants at our workshops.