The UNESCO UK Associated Schools Programme Network (ASPnet) Seeds of Hope for a Better Future project supports UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals and ASPnet’s key action areas - promoting peace, sustainability and intercultural learning and heritage, especially in the context of the challenges of climate change. The 2025 Competition seeks to inspire young people and key partners (educators, artists, scientists and others) to work together to create legacy arts and culture projects for the benefit of local, national and international communities and to reflect the importance of protecting and improving the bio-diversity of seeds against the impact of climate change. Young people and their partners are asked to create Seeds of Hope art works/stories in partnership with others. (see: Seeds of Hope for a Better Future – Part 1: Creating Seeds of Hope Stories ) (see also Kew resource links ) . Competition Brief “Imagine you are a seed." Create an artwork that describes your value – as a seed – to the world and your geographical origins. Art works should tell the story about how you – as a seed – must adapt to survive because local weather patterns and conditions have changed and are beginning to make your life perilous. The competition brief above is just an idea to inspire you, you may have another idea of how to interpret Seeds of Hope for a Better Future and share your work. The competition seeks to encourage and inspire young people and their partners to use a range of artistic expressions to create impactful arts and culture legacy projects for the benefit of others. Artwork examples could include: Art works, which can be a gallery exhibition or community art work for long-term display in a prominent outdoor space/public indoor area, and/or a touring exhibition. Illustrated poems/short stories as the focus of presentation for local poetry/story festivals or widely circulated through a variety of print media, such as books/flip books, posters, leaflets or other graphic formats. Digital illustrations using photography/film/animation circulated through social and other public media formats or exhibitions. Performance and/or installation art, such as a young people’s play/opera/musical theatre/dance/installation art/sculpture park. All artwork making a positive contribution to the project’s mission, aims and objectives will be received and shared via the UNESCO ASPnet National Coordinators. About Participation - PARTICIPATION FORM If you are interested in entering the competition, we cordially invite you to consult the Competition Rules and Guidelines and to contact your UNESCO ASPnet National Coordinator for further guidance about participating. PARTICIPATION FORM Good luck everyone! We look forward to seeing how your seeds of inspiration will help communities grow…!

Haiti, 1986 With the end of the brutal, US supported, Duvalier regime, 3500 base communities emerged through Ti Legliz (little church). This was Haiti’s own version of the liberation theology which arose in Latin America and similarly addressed social, political and economic justice for their marginalized populations. With Haiti’s illiteracy rate of at least 80%, Ti Legliz organized Alfabetizasyon, literacy programmes in Haitian Creole based on the work of Paolo Freire, the Brazilian educator and activist. In Haiti, Ti Legliz developed an indigenous text, Goute Sel (a taste of salt) focused on the lives of rural peasants and raising up their critical concerns. Teams of community activists led the classes and discussions. Inevitably, the macoutes and military junta who followed the departure of the Duvaliers did not tolerate these programmes. Community leaders were assassinated or went into hiding, materials were destroyed. Following the lost chance of democracy with President Aristide, lost through ongoing US interference, government corruption, outright coups and military occupations, Haiti continues to suffer from the highest rate of poverty and illiteracy in this hemisphere. In 2002 a local project for adult literacy was launched in Limonade, a commune in the Nord department of Haiti. Chancy Jak, a local human rights lawyer and activist, was encouraged by a Creolist from Indiana University. They began with a single class of market women. Chancy gradually built a team of community organizers to extend the programme. An old copy of Goute Sel was rescued and continues to be the basic text for all Alfa classes. Literally translated, Goute Sel means a taste of salt. Numerous references from the Bible have been used to explain this title. However, it is better understood through the Voudou belief that a taste of salt will revive the half dead. Alfa uses the power of literacy to awaken those whose basic human rights have been denied, whose lives are deadened. Despite their unique revolutionary history, Haitians continue to suffer the ongoing effects of colonialism and neocolonialism. Alfa now has 11 sites beyond Limonade. Classes are meeting up in the hills, along the river and out on the coast. Where they cannot borrow a classroom or a little chapel, everyone works together to build a simple shelter. Women and men who were denied any education, who had never held a pencil, are writing. They are reading, manipulating numbers, and questioning history. And they know their rights and responsibilities as citizens. Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a human right with immense power to transform. It is a bridge from misery to hope. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy, and sustainable human development.” Alfa has a small but committed support group based in the US Midwest. We believe that literacy lies at the root of our human identity and that for every person it can provide dignity and a means of control for how we live. We, Chancy Jak and his team, and all Alfa participants, continue to be affirmed and strengthened by our ongoing partnership with the Steve Sinnott Foundation. Alfabetizasyon se chemen devlopman  Literacy is the path to development