EMPACT-NATFA seminar “Circular Economy, Green Technologies and Empathy in Artistic Practices”, 9-10-11 June 2023: Completed with a positive evaluation by the participants
Organized by the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts “Kr. Sarafov” (NATFA) under the EMPACT project, this seminar was a very informative, engaging, creative, and insightful event. Over 50 educators, students, artists, arts managers and cultural professionals were involved in the three days interactive sessions, tackling the connections between arts, nature and empathy towards human and “non-human” beings.
On the first day, participants enjoyed a lot the experienced, knowledgeable and motivated presenters Diyana Dobreva-Hristova, an expert on actor empathy, and Radko Kovachev & Asen Nenov from the Institute of Circular Economy. The atmosphere was great: a lot of interactive learning about empathy & psychology of the actors and creatives, about the circular economy and sustainability, plus plenty of examples from Bulgaria & other countries.
On the second day, there were interactive presentations by Marina Mihailova & Nia Nedelcheva from WWF Bulgaria. Their motivation and inspiration to work for nature preservation & youth green entrepreneurship were certainly contagious! Maria Panayotova, Stefan Zarev & Paolina Popova, the graduated master students from NATFA, were brilliant in leading the afternoon creative workshops on empathy & environment: a truly memorable and recharging improvisation and creation in a team environment with diverse artistic expressions.
On the last day, participants had much fun, learning, sharing, and improving their empathy towards nature. There were four creative workshops with: Mila Stoeva on how to make trash art; Yana Georgieva Dzharova-Karakoleva about “Plastic Boom” – using waste materials to attract birds on trees; Marina Nikolova and Krasimira Ivanova on stop-motion animation & Ralitsa Kovacheva-Bejan who showed us how important the “sound of the Nature” is and how to make a “circle of sound”!
The summary of the feedback questionnaire shows that 88.9% of the participants rate the seminar as “very good”, and 11.1% as “good”. 85.1% of the respondents strongly agree that art and artists can promote sustainability and can advocate for climate change. Below are quotes from some of the many reflections and feedback provided by participants through the final evaluation form and via email (the anonymity is kept):
- “Continue the great initiative!”
- “Very interesting, engaging, creative seminar!”
- “It was a pleasure for me to take part and I hope that together we can keep our nature safe.”
- “Congratulations for the great work! And thank you! With gratitude”!
- “It was a great seminar! The combination between theory and practical workshops was well-balanced. All speakers and moderators were very experienced and motivating!”
- ‘Well done and looking forward to your upcoming events!”
- “Many thanks for the interesting workshop – both as presentations and as practical sessions. It was very useful and inspired us to new ideas!”
- “Admiration to the whole team for the great work done and for the efforts made to connect nature and empathy with artistic practices!”
This seminar was the last from NATFA’s activities under the Capacity Building part of EMPACT project. Follow the EMPACT project website for the artistic events and residencies this year: https://www.empact-project.org/, as well as NATFA website: https://natfiz.bg/en/empact-project/
EMPACT project is co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme (Grant Agreement No: 101055903 – EMPACT – CREA-CULT-2021-COOP-2)
Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
