The Mercè Rodoreda Library-Auditorium in Sant Joan Despí hosted the 1st Conference on Critical and Creative Thinking last Saturday, November 22nd. This pioneering event in Baix Llobregat brought together nearly a hundred teachers, cultural professionals, and educational agents with the aim of advocating for the arts as a key component in the comprehensive education of students.
The event, driven by the **Baix Llobregat V Pedagogical Resource Centre**, involved a broad institutional network, the city councils of Sant Joan Despí and Cornellà, the Mercè Rodoreda Library, the Department of Education, the Department of Culture, the Carulla Foundation, the Joan Miró Foundation, and Versembrant, which made possible a day conceived from a **collective and territorial** perspective.
The arts at the center of educational debate
Throughout the day, participants reflected on how **integrating the arts** can bring depth to learning, facilitate the expression of student diversity, and foster spaces where different talents and sensitivities can find a place. The program also highlighted the capacity of artistic disciplines to help **interpret information**, develop critical thinking, and connect knowledge transversally.
This initiative is part of the Culture and Education Program of the Generalitat, an initiative that since the 2024-2025 academic year has been working to more deeply link arts, culture, and the education system, with the aim of expanding access and cultural participation for children and young people.
The [dis]order, the thread of the day
The theme of this first edition, [dis]order, was an invitation to question the established and to look at reality from alternative perspectives. Philosopher and pedagogue Eulàlia Bosch opened the event with a lecture on the value of the creative process, followed by a dialogue led by Miquel Aguilar. There was also a space for best practices from educational centers in Sant Joan Despí and Cornellà, and an artistic intervention by Versembrant, who works with Catalan language and oral heritage through rap.
The central block was led by think tanks, facilitated by specialists such as Paula Jarrin (literature), Meritxell Balada (movement), Maria and Enric Udaondo (musical creation), and Xavi Rodríguez Martín (visual arts), who explored how [dis]order can act as a creative engine. The closing was led by artist Sofia Isus and the students of the artistic baccalaureate from Institut Maria Aurèlia Capmany, authors of a collective visual memory.
Consolidation of a Model
This day continues the training "Artistic Processes: A (De)fragmented Look at Education," promoted by the CRP and professionals from the Joan Miró Foundation, and reaffirms Sant Joan Despí and Cornellà as municipalities of reference in projects linking culture and education. The initiative advocates for strategies that strengthen innovation, inclusion, and cultural participation, understanding the arts as an essential tool for building critical thinking and contributing to a more just and sustainable future.
