When Images Start Thinking: Visual Thinking in Practice
- ARTE.M
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
As we come to the final stage of this project Visual Thinking 4 Educations, we are excited to share the results.
Some experiences are difficult to express in words —and this project has explored how images, art, and visual processes can help us understand, communicate, and reflect, especially in complex human contexts.
Together with our partners 🇪🇺 — La Chiave di Sophia, Italy, Health Growth Center Bulgaria, ARTE.M Portugal and Šiuolaikinių Didaktikų Centras Lithuania— we have developed a project that combines a video course with hands-on workshops, connecting art, philosophy, and real-life experience.
Now, we are happy to open this work to a wider audience and share the tools, methods, and ideas we have created along the way.
At the core of the project is Visual Thinking — using images and creative methods to:
support learning and communication
stimulate creativity and innovation
approach challenges from new perspectives
At ARTE.M, we contributed by integrating art therapy approaches, particularly in the context of working with refugees, migrants, and people who have experienced displacement.
This perspective brings an important dimension to the project — focusing not only on creativity, but also on:
emotional awareness
identity and belonging
resilience and personal expression
Through simple and accessible visual methods, participants are encouraged to explore and express experiences that are often difficult to verbalize.
Project Outputs
Workshops
As part of the project, we developed a series of practice-based workshops combining visual thinking, art therapy, and critical reflection.
The workshops focus on how people see, interpret, and emotionally respond to images, stories, and social narratives — especially in the context of migration and identity.
Through simple creative methods — drawing, collage, symbolic imagery — participants explore:
perception and unconscious bias
emotional responses to media and information
personal and collective experiences of migration
At the same time, the sessions provide practical tools for educators and practitioners, helping them support migrant children and communities through safe self-expression, reflection, and dialogue.
The workshops are designed to be accessible, adaptable, and trauma-sensitive, allowing participants to work at their own pace and in their own way.
Video course (40+ videos, ~4.5 hours)
Workshops for testing and adapting methods in practice
A combination of art, philosophy, and experiential learning
Why it matters
Visual Thinking offers practical tools that can be used in education, youth work, and cultural contexts to:
support emotional expression
facilitate dialogue across cultures
encourage creative and critical thinking
Visual Thinking 4 Education – Video Course
A structured yet flexible learning resource designed to be used at your own pace.
🎥 40+ videos⏱ ~4.5 hours
Key Focus
In addition to creativity and innovation, the course includes a strong focus on:
art therapy practices
migration and identity
working with emotional and social challenges through art
How to use the course
Watch.Try.Reflect.
Adapt the methods to your own context and professional practice.
Funded by the European Union
Project No.: 2024-1-IT01-KA210-VET-000243700
Disclaimer: The European Union support for the projection of this publication does not constitute any endorsement of the content which reflects the views only of the authors. and the Union cannot be held responsible for a n use which mav be made of the information contained therein.
Comments