The international art exhibition Voices of [h] eritage, displayed in La Capilla cultural space at the University of La Laguna (Spain), and Pedagogy as Art, Art as Pedagogy, recently held at the Silesian University in Opava (Czechia), are final results of the work developed within the framework of STARS EU through its Thematic Interest Group (TIG) in Arts and Creative Industries.

These two exhibitions are joined by a previous one, presented at the Polytechnic University of Bragança. The three ones organised by this TIG are interconnected: they share the common theme of creativity and art, while each explores a different subject, as Jana Orlova, professor at SUO and member of this TIG, emphasized.

The combined intensive program (BIP) Heritage and Creativity for Inclusion aimed at teachers, researchers, and professionals in the arts, held its in-person meeting in Tenerife. Coordinated by Noemí Peña (ULL) co-leader of the Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Art and Creative Industries and Vice Dean of University of La Laguna’s Faculty of Fine Arts, it brought together participants from various countries in a hybrid work environment that combined online sessions with an intensive week of collaboration.

The meeting allowed participants to explore the potential of cultural heritage and creativity as tools for fostering inclusion, particularly regarding the exchange of methodologies, experiences, and artistic practices.

In this context, Voices [ h]eritage is presented as the culmination of this collective process: an exhibition showcasing artistic results and highlighting the research-creation processes developed during the BIP. The works exhibited at La Capilla are the direct result of the projects and working dynamics developed during the meeting in Tenerife, and reflect diverse approaches to the concept of heritage, understood not only as a living space for interpretation, dialogue, and critical intervention.

The exhibition features projects that emerged from workshops, collaborative sessions, and cultural activities held during the program, addressing issues such as memory, identity, territory, and forms of cultural transmission. Furthermore, it serves as a space where artistic practice and pedagogy converge, demonstrating how learning can unfold through shared creative processes.

From Tenerife to Opava

As a continuation of the work developed within the framework of the TIG, and developed in parallel, the experience has led to a second exhibition, Pedagogy as Art, Art as Pedagogy, recently held at the Silesian University in Opava (Czechia), as part of the STARS EU Annual Conference.

The exhibition featured works from Albania, Brazil, France, Portugal, Spain, and the Czechia. The multimedia works were presented by Uendi Çerma from Aleksandër Moisiu University in Durrës (UAMD) in Albania; Marcus Ramusyo de Almeida Brasil from the Brazilian Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Maranhão (IFMA); Dominique Soucy from Université Marie et Louis Pasteur (UMLP) in Besançon; and from the Portuguese Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB), the creative duo Carlos Casimiro Costa & Jacinta Costa, together with their colleague Tiago Fernandes. Noemí Peña Sánchez from Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) in Tenerife will also present her work.

The audiovisual pieces will be complemented by a collaborative photographic-poetic project by Jana Orlová from Silesian University in Opava (SUO) and Ana Lúcia Pinto from Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB).

This exhibition presents the artistic work of teachers and researchers involved in the group, with works from different countries and institutional contexts, but this time from a perspective more focused on the relationship between pedagogy and artistic practice. Although both exhibitions are two interconnected manifestations of the same process—a pedagogical and artistic laboratory, and education in a space of critical experimentation—it is, in Voices of [h] eritage, where this process finds its first public materialization.

The introductory Game-based workshop on digital literacy and inclusion for Educators will be held on November 27 in Tenerife

STARS EU is promoting a face-to-face workshop that will take place on November 27, 2025, within the framework of the Project Meeting that the alliance will hold on the island on the 25th, 26th and 27th. The initiative, aimed at the alliance’s faculty and academic staff, will offer practical strategies to design and facilitate sessions based on gamification and inclusion in the university environment.

The activity, organized by the University of La Laguna, will be taught by Madelon van Oostrom, professor at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, sociologist and PhD from ULL, with an outstanding career in educational innovation.

With a capacity limited to 30 participants, the workshop will be delivered in a highly participatory and collaborative format. The organisation by working groups will make it possible to promote experimentation, the exchange of good practices and direct transfer to teaching.

The meeting will take place on November 27, from 12:00 to 14:00 hours, on the first floor of the Agustín Arévalo Tower (Ficread room) of the University of La Laguna.

For more information, visit: Interactive Workshop on Digital Competence

If you are interested in participating, click here: Registration.

This week, the University of La Laguna is hosting the in-person portion of a course on smart grids and blockchain in energy, promoted within STARS EU, coordinated by Professor Benjamín González of the Department of Industrial Engineering. For this reason, 15 master’s degree students from three partner universities in the alliance—the Krakow University of Technology (Poland), the Hochschule Bremen – City University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and the Polytechnic University of Bragança (Portugal)—in addition to the enrolled local students, traveled to the School of Engineering and Technology, where the course is held.

The Director of the Internationalization Secretariat, Judit Mendoza, welcomed the new students, inviting them to enjoy the experience and take advantage of the opportunity to exchange ideas and expand their knowledge. Also present at the opening were two professors from the Portuguese institution: Ângela Ferreira, the founder of this course, which is in its second edition this year (2025), and José Lima.

Ferreira herself explained that “smart grids” are electrical infrastructures with a high degree of digitalization, capable of supporting real-time operations and combining monitoring and automatic control actions to help preserve system integrity. “They are very important today; we saw this with the recent blackout that affected Spain and Portugal, so the idea of ​​this course is to explore tools for understanding, designing, operating, and optimizing modern electrical systems that integrate digital technology, communication, and renewable energy sources.”

During her opening remarks, Ferreira conducted a roundtable discussion in which the students introduced themselves and shared their personal and academic interests. At that point, she expressed her satisfaction with the fact that a third of the attending students were female, an encouraging indicator given the low female presence in so-called STEM degrees.

Visits, presentations and collaborative projects

Benjamín González introduced the content of these in-person sessions, which will run until Thursday, May 29th. These sessions will include a visit to the facilities of the Institute of Renewable Energy Technology (ITER) and the host school’s laboratories; the presentation of initiatives such as the European project on energy communities, Satcomm; the technical master’s degrees from the University of La Laguna; and the development of collaborative group work by students, which will be presented together.

This course follows the format of the Blended Intensive Courses (BIP) of the Erasmus+ initiative, in which students receive intensive, online instruction on a very specific topic from instructors from all the universities involved. Smart Grids, which began in February, is now being held in person on the University of La Laguna campus. The course is also part of one of the thematic interest groups (TIG) that articulate STARS EU’s activities, the Energy Transition group, led by the University of La Laguna, with Benjamín González as coordinator.