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CHAPTER 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

4.4. Environmental Education

4.4.5. The Role of Art in Education (suite)

Example: Marrionettes and Puppet Shows in Mali

In Mali, the Walia Environmental Education Programme has chosen a traditional marionette drama group to train school children to set up a puppet show. Few experiences were made in Mali and Niger to use traditional marionettes and puppets to talk about environmental issues.

• In Mali, the "Tiori Ble Diarra group" was asked to prepare a performance on environmental issues based on the Walia objectives and issues presented in the magazine. The language and writing was left to the group. The Walia team gave them the magazines and asked them to produce the "Walia" stork puppet and use it as the precursor of nature. A show was produced and a tour was organized through the entire region where the programme was taking place. The group performed for adults and school children.

The impact was very strong. The group was invited to prepare a two-week workshop for transferring their knowledge to youth and helping them by producing their puppets and show.

Recommendation: using traditional media is very effective. Opening the opportunity to transfer their knowledge is tracing the path for the future.

• In Niger, taking the opportunity of a national museum based in the capital with a large open-air area, brings up a way to verify if an urban population could understand a traditional media. Further, this gives an opportunity to involve a traditional group who speaks a native language and that will communicate their perception of the environmental issues to a population more aware of urban problems.

In order to make this event possible, a partnership was formed with the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the National Museum director, the Police department for security of the artists, and the public. The media were informed. Advertising was made through the newspaper and radio.

The show presented two types of marionettes, the first one, "the big ones", representing the disappeared and mythic animals, and the second type, using the small ones in cages representing the relationship between animals and human activities in rural areas. This show is based on the traditional belief about the importance of the animal in the "bambara" society and the changes brought on by the development.

In the local population, adults were very impressed and pleased to notice that their traditional media, left behind many years, were brought back and were useful to help them to be conscious about environmental issues.

"We don't need to understand the words to be able to understand the message, the vision talks by itself."

Recommendation: experience shows the importance of working in collaboration with government departments. Association linked to the social and cultural heritage is possible and can be very effective. Its show us that through this type of media, when leaving them with the flexibility and the words, the messages are understood by the population.

Table of Contents

• Brochure
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• International Year of Forests
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• World Environment Day
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• UNEP Campaign
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