Jerry Wong, Joseph Lavulo, Lati Shalom
We are grateful to Transparency International New Zealand for providing a grant to support youth anti-corruption through expressive arts)
Spreading Integrity and Anti-Corruption messages through expressive arts has been an important part of the work of Youths For Integrity Fiji. We are pleased to report that we had a very constructive collaboration with graphic arts students of the Department of Creative Arts of the Fiji National University as part of our event on International Youth Day held at Nasinu Campus on the 8th of August 2023.
This
year’s theme, Green Skills for Youth Towards a Sustainable World of
Integrity, highlights the importance of equipping youth with the knowledge,
skills and anti-corruption values necessary to address environmental challenges
with integrity and sustainability.
One way in which participants were involved was through active participation, whereby graphic design students took part in a poster competition with the same theme. This process involved research and learning about what green skills are, and its correlation to corruption and climate change.
Mr. Joseph Lavulo, Graphic Design Lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts at the Fiji National University who oversaw this project, mentioned the positive change amongst students through an increase in awareness on the issues.
“They (the students) started thinking deeply about it, the idea of addressing corruption. Usually, artists do whatever they want. A designer is usually trained to entertain an audience. So now they have to spend time on their desktop and read on it. A lot of desktop research goes into it because they can’t just design anything unless they already know about it”.
The project was impactful because the students were able to know more about the anti-corruption and integrity themes. These posters have also been shared on the Youths for Integrity and Integrity Fiji Social Media pages as a way to share the message to others.
Mr. Lavulo noted that this is not something new for the Department of Creative Arts to increase awareness and advocate for social issues because a lot of their projects are centered around social issues such as teenage pregnancy, healthy living, drunk driving and more. For instance, a project on healthy eating might have students design prototypes for a vegan or keto cafe. In this way students also learn about business and entrepreneurship and more about the issues.
Let us use the power of graphics to promote Green Skills and Integrity. Through our creative works, we can be catalysts for change, raising awareness and promoting a global community that prioritizes sustainability. Together, we can build a world that relies on green skills and integrity in everything we do. We will embrace graphic design's power and join together to create a greener future!
The Executive Director of CLCT Integrity Fiji hopes to run this competition annually on International Youth Day.
