BUSINESS: 296 PRACTICES
Polyeco is the first and sole integrated and fully licensed waste management and valorization industry in Greece.
Read more: www.polyeco.gr
In 2014, Polyeco SA in the context of corporate social responsibility launched Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative (PCAI), an ambitious initiative which aims primarily at raising public environmental awareness by implicitly addressing the critical issue of waste management. The main purpose was to create the framework that will allow Polyeco to implement an original cultural and educational program for environmental awareness. PCAI implements its objectives through three areas of activity: firstly, its collection of works of art inspired by environmental issues; secondly, its projects, i.e. the exhibitions and programs it organizes and thirdly its support, i.e. the technical or communication support on other initiatives or people who share the same vision and concerns.
In this context, PCAI Junior was created: deeply believing that environmental awareness is cultivated from an early age, it designed an innovative educational program addressed to schools and institutions in Greece and abroad. PCAI Junior was created in the summer of 2017 to enable young participants to understand critical, ecological issues that affect their place of residence.
To capture this process, PCAI Junior chose animation while creating an original movie during its workshops. This children film archive is an integral part of PCAI Junior, introducing to the general public a range of international eco-friendly short films created by children for children. Through the screening of these films in international festivals and cultural institutions, PCAI Junior's eco-message is broadcast to countless viewers of all ages and interests.
PCAI workshops are designed on a case by case basis for primary, secondary and high school students, aiming at environmental awareness through moving image and contemporary art. Under this curriculum, animated films subtitled in English are produced, which travel to international festivals, institutes and museums and which are aimed at the general public regardless of age, social class or background.
The uniqueness of the PCAI Junior platform, created in 2017 by PCAI, lies on the fact that that it has no expiration date. It is an ongoing, flexible educational program developed alongside Polyeco and it is presented both in Greece and abroad. Here are some videos and links referring to the program and its implementation.
A first version of the platform was implemented by a team of talented teachers in Greece (Geitonas Schools, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens Science Festival) and abroad (Oman, Mauritius). The educator, the illustrator and the animator-director organize an educational program aimed at working with schools and institutions to address environmental problems of the young participants' places of residence.
This program relies on experiential games, which takes place indoors and outdoors, allowing children to learn through playing. The workshops carried out within the framework of the platform are of a local nature, enabling students to recognize the threats of their area and to develop environmental consciousness. In particular, children are initially invited to explore and understand the threat, then to propose a solution and finally to capture their ideas in a short film.
This program has three stages:
Research: The educator works to help children understand all aspects of an environmental issue. The issue considered is what the class has chosen after careful selection.
Solution: The class proposes and finally finds ways to deal with the problem. The solution is visualized with the help of the educator and the illustrator.
Narrations: In the final stage the class reflects upon the solutions through a story. In the previous two stages the class has acquired all the necessary tools and knowledge for this process. Now, with the help of the educatorr and the animator, children record theirs story and create a series of moving pictures that become a short film.
During 2018 PCAI workshops were implemented in two schools in Oman, in the SNFCC (3 workshops) and in Mauritius. Approximately 100 children attended them from 6 to 16 years of age whereas the impact of PCAI’s children film library is enormous through the projection of its films in International Festivals and Conferences. Except SNFCC, the cost of the workshops is entirely covered by the company and a survey is already being planned to measure the satisfaction of participants, parents and stakeholders in the program.
Through this educational initiative, Polyeco addresses local communities and environmental issues at a local, regional and national level, particularly in areas facing serious environmental problems, such as Oman and Mauritius.
Polyeco Contemporary Art initiative and its educational program are not limited to geographic boundaries. With Athens as its base it is implemented in countries where the company develops business activity and has a universal character since its target is to create a coherent collection that will travel all over the world. PCAI Junior has already been presented in Greece, Oman and Mauritius while its children's films are constantly traveling to film and animation festivals with its most recent inclusion the Gazette Film Festival in Spain and Mexico.
The basic principle of PCAI is to work with institutions and institutions that share their vision and philosophy.
In 2018, PCAI within the framework of its educational program successfully collaborated with the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center, which sponsored its program, while at the same time it was hosted at its premises in the National Greek Library and in the SNFCC Park.
At the beginning of the same year, the first PCAI Junior film was completed, which was made in cooperation with the fifth elementary school pupils of Geitonas Schools.
In the summer of 2018 the program was implemented in Oman, in cooperation with the Oman Ministry of Education and the Orpic Refineries, and in December 2018 it was hosted in Mauritius in cooperation with the local Ministry of Education.
At the same time, in 2018, discussions on later applications and collaborations of PCAI Junior began with important science and cultural actors such as the Athens Science Festival, Eleusis 2021 and the Municipal Theater of Piraeus among others.
Polyeco employees play an essential role in the implementation and dissemination of the educational initiative by actively and voluntarily helping teachers to research and implement their workshop using all the means at their disposal. At the same time, they act as ambassadors in the regions they are active at whereas often employees’ kids attend and participate in these programs.
A number of important distinctions and participations confirm the success of PCAI and its educational activities at international level, ensuring greater recognition and prestige in the local communities in which the company operates.
The PCAI Children Film Archive has traveled and been screened at various international children and animation film festivals including Animasyros, Camera Zizanio, Gazettefilm Festival, Athens Science Festival and the Olympia Festival program on the Hellenic Parliament's TV Channel.
In 2018 PCAI’s program was awarded by the International Solid Waste Association ISWA at their congress in Kuala Lumpur.
Since 2018 PCAI is a member of the International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art (IACCCA), the only Greek organization in this important network of more than 46 members (including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity Investments, Gazprombank, Statoil, PICTET, etc.), representing some of the best contemporary art collections in the world. It was also awarded for its original cultural and educational work at the Corporate Art Awards 2018, which took place in European Parliament in Brussels.
PCAI Junior has already helped Polyeco diversify among its competitors and create new opportunities to redefine its corporate identity and image and it has strengthened its contacts with its customers. Polyeco actively supports the local societies of the countries in which it operates; the educational films created in these areas result after deep research into the local community and its environmental problems.
