The World Conference on Arts Education promoted by UNESCO and held in Lisbon in March 2006 drew worldwide attention to the need to value artistic education as an approach to combat violence, exclusion, intolerance and as a tool for development of the individual and for understanding among peoples (Unesco, 2006). However, the Conference has also stressed that the way art education has been ensured, not only in Portugal but also in other countries, has proved to be ineffective, and initiatives to change this situation must be taken.

In fact, the complexity and highly specialized nature of this area, from the point of view of training, implies a dynamic of its own which results, above all, from the predominantly practical nature of the disciplines that integrate it. The main presuppositions of this training will be: - gradual contact with art, through artistic practices and experiences; - the mobilization, in constant interaction, of "knowledge" and "know-how", since only this simultaneity will allow learning to be coherent and effective; - the presentation of proactive tasks which put the learner at the center of the action; - to manage in an integrated way the experiences in the artistic field and in the other curricular areas; besides their intrinsic value, artistic expressions have a relevant instrumental value, relative to their "utility" for the learning of other disciplines. 

Also at the same Conference (Unesco, 2006) the importance of "facilitating the coordination between educational establishments and cultural institutions in each country” is also emphasized, so that they can find a consensus and implement strategies and activities to develop artistic education.

We present a Project - educArte -inspired by several of the underlins of this Conference and driven by a strong motivation to participate in the process of reflection and improvement that Artistic Education lacks. The projet was also developed in a  School that joined  a  project  called  the  "Project  for  Autonomy  and  Curriculum  Flexibility  (PACF)"  promoted by the Ministry of Education on  a  voluntary  basis and it had the necessary  conditions  to  manage  the  curriculum  while  also  integrating  practices  that  promote  better  learning. This is a process of gradual transformation of the organizational and pedagogical logics of the work of the school and of teachers, in a transformative structural perspective with a view to improving the learning of all students. The  project  supports  schools  in  effectively  exercising  autonomy  and  greater  flexibility  as  they  redesign  their  curricula  according  to  the  goals  delineated  in  the  “Students' Profile by the End of Compulsory Schooling”. 

This co-authorship gives the teacher (school) autonomy, but also a huge responsibility, in which the specific knowledge of their discipline, the pedagogical foundations and the implementation of methodological approaches centered on the students are essential.

An so is the case of educARTe. The example we present on this video represents an example of artistic education aiming at learning equity, inclusion and cultural development and was built for presentation and dissemination of the project on the website of the portuguese Ministry of Education.

educARTe Project is being developed since 2014 by the Higher School of Education (Polytechnic Institute of Santarém) in partnership with a School Grouping from Abrantes and a local Artistic Society, and the collaboration of the Aesthetic and Artistic Education Program of the Portuguese Ministry of Education (PEEA). This project is associated with a contextualized continuing education course, whose trainees are co-researchers. The major objectives of this project are - generalization of access to Arts Education within the mainstream public education system, for the development of better learning and inclusive conditions, cultural literacy for children, families and the communities; - to train a group of professionals with qualification for teaching, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to teach, in an integrated way, artistic expressions in the pre-school education and the first years of formal education; - to promote a greater articulation and cooperation between the schools of the Basic Education and Higher Schools of Education, in the area of Artistic Education, with a view to the development of the quality of Education; to contribute to the sustainability of the cultural and artistic dynamics created in the School Grouping of Abrantes; -to contribute to the revitalization of Cultural Associations as "incubators" of experimental artistic projects with a relevant role in creating audiences, affirming and strengthening communities’ cultural identity. Methodologically, the development of this Project is close to the Research-Action methodology ( Cohen & Manion, 1994; Coutinho et a., 2009) to which we recognize the potential to improve the quality of professional action. The continuous dynamics between training, analytical reflection and action is central to this process.

One of the main intentions of this project is to gain, for Artistic Education, an effective intervention space in the educational system. Our overall strategy is to open and consolidate communication channels between potential partners within and between the areas of education and training, local authorities, cultural institutions and agents, creating local and regional synergies that bring sustainability to the achievements, however small they may be. We will therefore seek evidence of such synergies in results that we hope to achieve: - Creation of a musical grouping in each of the Schools involved considered as spaces for children's cultural and social experience; - Organizing a project team with teachers of basic education and higher education, co-working on a rationale of research and development experience- and evidence-based; - Construction of teaching materials and pedagogical support resources; - Inventory and justification of "good practices", with regard to Artistic Education and its curricular integration, through: a- systematization of observation and analysis data; b- identification and adequacy of content and teaching strategies; c- rationale and organization of proposals for schemes / reading tables of concepts and procedures; - Organization of evidence-based recommendations to policy-makers - Dissemination of the project, in its various phases. We are convinced that in education, as in other human activities, real change emerges from the deliberate action of its most direct agents, in a committed, interventional, creative way. We intend to develop a process of experimentation and validation of modes of curricular integration of Artistic Education, generating contributions so that educational policy measures promoting education equity and quality and improving citizens' education for the future can be pursued. We also intend to actively contribute to the cultural enrichment of the community, namely by promoting the formation of publics and greater equality in access to culture.

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