By Heidy Vega García, Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.
A fig tree on her university campus gave Heidy Vega García a new way to reflect on teaching and belonging. Heidy, an academic in the school of humanities at the National University in Heredia, Costa Rica, leads courses since 2005 based on the Earth Charter. The course, that initially was titled “Education, Society and Environment” and since 2015 it is called “Ecocitizenship in Action with the Earth Charter,” has changed over the years but the purpose is the same. Offered twice a year for the past twenty years, this course has involved about 3,000 students.
In August 2024, she participated in the course “Artistic Resources for Playful Learning of the Principles of the Earth Charter,” taught by Arline Sobalvarro Sobalvarro, from Technical National University, which gave her new insights for her teaching practice. Over four weeks, Heidy explored poetry, photography, movement, and reflection as ways to learn through the Earth Charter. Photographing the fig tree, she saw its roots as a connection to her family and educational experiences, and its branches as the contributions she could offer society. She also designed a lesson combining a story, a short meditation, and an artistic activity around a principle of the Earth Charter.
The experience deepened her appreciation of learning that includes emotional, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. Familiar places in her neighborhood became sources of reflection on care and interdependence. For Heidy, artistic practice offers a way to make the Earth Charter personally meaningful and to encourage ecological responsibility in university education.
