PIA today has over 2000 alumni from 35 countries and has linkages with several universities in India and Canada for course development, course teaching and internships.
The Arts-based Methodology for Research and Engagement learning circle, hosted by PRIA International Academy, is a three-hour interactive session designed to explore the power of the arts as a medium for research, learning, and social engagement. Arts-based approaches offer creative pathways to connect with communities, policymakers, duty bearers, and government institutions, enabling participatory exploration of complex social issues.
This session will feature insights from global practitioners who apply artistic processes in their research and engagement efforts across diverse contexts. Participants will also gain hands-on experience with Photovoice, a participatory visual research tool that enables communities to represent their realities through photography- promoting collective reflection, dialogue, and co-ownership of local challenges.
The session will conclude with a reflective discussion led by Dr. Catherine Etmanski, who will connect participants’ experiential learning to the theoretical underpinnings of arts-based methodologies. Drawing on her extensive work in transformative learning, Dr. Etmanski will share reflections on how creative expression and symbolism contribute to social transformation and participatory pedagogy.
Date: 3 December 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Venue: 42, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Vayusenabad, New Delhi, Delhi-110062
Facilitators:
The outcome of the Learning Circle is to make participatory approaches more engaging and more interesting for my students and for the people I am working with. The suggestion is that maybe we can use more visuals and some process aspect to make it more inclusive.
Firstly, my experience was really really amazing. I really liked how they used the photovoice activity to create a knowledge output from it and when the output came, the community owned that output. Their entire knowledge of knowledge creation and knowledge coalition was so participatory in nature that when the product came the community felt like it was their product. For the future I would like to use more such art based methodologies in our organization.
इस लर्निंग सर्कल में हमें बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला। इसमें यह बताया गया कि कला और ड्राइंग का क्या महत्व है और किस तरह इनके माध्यम से हम अपनी कम्युनिटी को अधिक प्रभावी रूप से जोड़ सकते हैं या उनका ध्यान अपनी ओर आकर्षित कर सकते हैं।मैं एक बात कहना चाहूँगा कि यदि इस तरह की कार्यशालाएँ लगातार होती रहें और उनमें कुछ दृश्य सामग्री (विज़ुअल्स) या उदाहरण जोड़े जाएँ—जैसे कि कला के माध्यम से हम समुदाय में बच्चों या जिन समूहों के साथ हम काम कर रहे हैं, उन पर किस प्रकार प्रभाव डाल पा रहे हैं—और उसके परिणामों को उदाहरण या दृश्य रूप में दिखाया जाए, तो यह और भी अधिक प्रभावी और उपयोगी होगा।
I think I really enjoyed some of the conversation around symbolism that Catherine was initiating and how actually you don't realise until it happens is really powerful and it can be very emotional and I think it's a great idea for something for people to work on. So that's like gap research doesn't teach us so how can we build our own skills as a community for some of our own issues even if not art based methods.
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Parul Mehra (CAO - ETASHA Society)
December 16, 2025This workshop was a beautiful surprise, introducing us to innovative art-based methodologies we had never explored before. The PhotoVoice activity was especially impactful and will be a powerful tool to engage adolescents and youth in our work. Learning from diverse organizations and international experts using creative methods added great value through shared best practices.