Green Visionary Artistry: Wordsmiths for the Earth and Literary Voices of Environmental Advocacy

Between 5 and 8 February 2026, FAJUB, together with the European partners of the project Green Visionary Artistry – A Tapestry of Environmental Expression, took part in the fifth international meeting of the project, held in Mengeš, Slovenia. The meeting created a space for exchange where literature, culture, and sustainability intersected with local identity, landscape, and community engagement.

The official opening of the meeting took place at the Municipality of Mengeš, where participants were welcomed by the Mayor, Bogo Ropotar, and the Vice-Mayor, Tina Štrukelj. The session framed the meeting within the municipality’s commitment to sustainability and highlighted the importance of youth and local community involvement in cultural and civic life.

The haiku workshop, coordinated by Natasa Vrhovnik Jerič, invited participants to write in their mother tongues, with nature as the shared theme. Writing haikus became a collective exercise in attention and observation, where different cultural contexts met through a poetic form that is simple, direct, and deeply connected to the natural world.

The connection between literature and sustainability was further explored in the roundtable “Literature’s Involvement in Sustainability,” moderated by Milan Mandeljc and featuring Mojca Volkar Trobevšek and Lucija Baša, founder of the Mira Mokriske Institute. This session offered an immersion into Slovenian literature, where nature appears as a constant and structuring presence—not merely a recurring theme, but an element shaping narratives, sensibilities, and the relationship between writing, territory, and cultural identity.

One of the most memorable moments of the meeting was the celebration of Slovenian Cultural Day, dedicated to the poet France Prešeren, which served as a meeting point between project participants and the local community. The poetry recital performed by students from Osnovna šola Mengeš, integrated into the Slavnostna akademija, together with the award ceremony of the Association of Cultural Societies of the Municipality of Mengeš, reinforced the community dimension of the event, highlighting culture as a space for intergenerational connection and collective participation.

For FAJUB and the project partners, this meeting provided a concrete experience of how culture and poetry take root in territory and everyday life, revealing a living and continuous relationship between artistic creation, nature, and community. More than a sequence of activities, the gathering in Mengeš made visible how literature can strengthen a sense of belonging, promote environmental awareness, and contribute to the construction of shared, sustainable narratives deeply connected to place.

The Green Visionary Artistry project is developed in partnership by: FAJUB (Portugal), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Municipality of Pilisborosjenő (Hungary), Municipality of Mengeš (Slovenia), Fifty Fifty (Greece), Municipality of Athienou (Cyprus), Asociación CREACIA (Spain – Murcia), and Municipality of Siena (Italy).

Green Visionary Artistry is co-funded by the European Union and promotes intercultural dialogue, environmental awareness, and active citizenship through art and literature.