In today’s ever-changing world, it is better to have friends than enemies. This has been the strategy of 14 big enterprises in the beauty market, who have decided to cooperate to transform their value chain and make it more sustainable.

Chanel, L’Oréal, Sisley, L’Occitane and many more form now “Pulp In Action”, a consortium aiming at developing new cellulose fibre materials to replace plastic, in order to tackle one of the biggest issues of cosmetics: plastic packaging.

The consortium is working with laboratories, to research and develop innovative and sustainable materials, and a consulting firm, (RE)SET, who organises consultations and ensure that the new materials will be functional for the companies. After only one year of cooperation, fifteen packaging are ready to be tested.

Even if the urgency to get rid of plastic is no longer debated, this is rather revolutionary for cosmetics companies, who use plastic because it can be shaped and adapted to many products and preserves their quality. As Géraldine Poivert, co-founder of (RE)SET, said “plastic is a great material, with properties that are difficult to find elsewhere”.

It is for this very reason that cosmetics companies have decided to “work at the sector level to decide on new standards”, acknowledges Poivert.

Was it necessary to form a consortium?

Innovation is a risky and expensive process. In this case, these 14 companies want to challenge the monopoly of plastic established on packaging and “Then, there is always the risk that the consumer will not be onboard”, notes Géraldine Poivert.

In order to mitigate these risks, it is better to work together to reduce costs, find suppliers more easily, have a greater place on the market and better chances to find customers.

In other words, “Competitors have a common interest, which is also the general interest: that of redefining standards.”, says Poivert.

Cross-industry cooperation is not an easy task for companies, but consortia are multiplying to accompany the revolution.

The From Archive to Alive project: a pan-European consortium to raise awareness on climate change

Just as “Pulp In Action”, the FaTa consortium has a common interest, which is raise awareness of young generations on climate change and the importance to preserve the environment. To do this, a special e-learning module has been developed by the partners, to explore what is climate change, and what can artists do to fight it.

Discover the whole e-learning course on https://archive2alive.eu/.

Have you ever wondered about the relevance of art in the education of young students? How could you contribute to an education that focuses on creativity, expressiveness and critical thinking to educate more empathetic and socially aware future citizens?

Today’s post may not give you direct answers, but we hope it will be an inspiring tool to motivate you to make small but significant changes in your approach to teaching/training.

From Mark Rothko, a great admirer of the freshness with which children produce artistic expression, and his project “The Scribble Book”, we present five simple strategies to explore art education for secondary school students (equally valid for other educational levels).

1. Just like speaking or singing, art is an inherently human form of universal expression. The ideas, observations and emotions of young students can be transformed into moving and powerful works of art that communicate their views. Reflecting on a complex or topical issue and producing an artistic manifestation that reflects the student’s personal viewpoint can be a transformative vehicle for managing one’s emotions, developing creativity and lateral thinking.

2. Despite curricular limitations, art should not be expelled from the classroom, as limiting its creativity can also hinder the development of other skills such as communication or problem solving. As far as artistic expression is concerned, Rothko recommends providing flexibility, allowing for individualisation of proposals.

3. To reinforce students’ self-confidence, it is possible to promote activities such as collaborative discussions or classroom exhibitions in which students have the opportunity to present and express their opinions or exhibit their work in front of their peers. Inspiring confidence in one’s own abilities will be essential to develop adults who are personally and professionally capable and actively engaged in their environment.

4. Do you want to introduce art into your classes as a learning tool? Then make sure to include references to all stages of Art History, so that students have access to a wide variety of artistic manifestations and styles. This will encourage their breadth of vision and boost their creativity.

5. “Work to cultivate creative thinkers, not professional artists”. Although the reference here to the future artist is obvious, this quote can be equally applicable to other fields (e.g. an engineer or a future teacher). In any case, the approach remains the same – cultivating critical thinking will help develop more self-aware, empathetic and collaborative learners and will result in better citizens in the long run.

Painting source image: https://www.wikiart.org/es/mark-rothko

Further information
https://youtu.be/1v1mBepDlOw
https://nodoarte.com/2018/03/28/como-ensenar-arte-a-los-ninos-segun-mark-rothko/
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-teach-art-kids-mark-rothko
https://www.wikiart.org/es/mark-rothko