RELEVANCE IN THE SOCIAL AND PRODUCTIVE CONTEXT OF R&D&I WITHIN THE SCIENTIFIC OR PROFESSIONAL SECTOR OF THE PROGRAM
Various international reports related to research in Education and Visual Arts (The Arts & Humanities Research Board – UK; The European League of Institutes of the Arts – ELIA; *The Arts in Education, New Opportunities for Research* (2004); *Art-Based Teaching and Learning* (Rooney, 2004); and *The Wow Factor. Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education* (Bradford, 2006)) demonstrate a significant increase in public and private institutions supporting the importance of research linked to visual arts education, especially regarding creativity, given its contribution to educational quality, economic development, improved social conditions, and cultural coexistence. In this regard, in April 2004, the British government established creativity enhancement as a priority topic for education and innovation. The rationale behind this decision was that the creativity-related industry constituted the country’s second-largest source of income. Along the same lines, Richard Florida’s book *The Rise of the Creative Class* highlights that the most prosperous areas in the United States are those with the highest concentration of creative individuals. Finally, a recent report by the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2005) also stresses the importance of the “creative industry” in contributing to the national GDP.
These precedents position the relevance of this postgraduate program within the social and productive context, given that although Visual Arts Education has traditionally been linked to artistic knowledge and practice, today it constitutes one of the research fields associated not only with creativity development and the improvement of education, but also with building a more inclusive society. Its knowledge and research outcomes also impact the audiovisual industry, cultural management, and community development.
Within this framework, studies and research related to Visual Arts Education form an interdisciplinary field drawing from Post-structuralist, Feminist, Cultural, Performative, and Visual Culture Studies, among others. Research explores emerging issues related to identity, difference, and equity, with special emphasis on the relationship between individuals and visual discourses. These investigations take place in educational institutions, museums, cultural centers, community experiences, and online environments.
This postgraduate program seeks to respond to these challenges, being one of the few of its kind offered in Europe and Latin America. As a result, many of our students come from Latin American countries and, upon returning to their home regions, join universities or organizations as recognized educators and/or researchers.
In summary, the aspects that justify the academic, social and productive relevance of this postgraduate program are the following:
1. The importance of research on teaching and learning in Visual Arts—particularly from a constructionist perspective—due to its contribution not only to improving education but also to understanding identity construction processes and subjectivity in contemporary societies.
2. The emergence of a field of studies and research related to Visual Arts Education and Visual Culture, with applications in institutional and community contexts, addressing new social issues.
3. The growing social demand for professionals linked to innovation/creativity and education in visual arts and visual culture in institutional and community settings.
4. The reliability guaranteed by ten years of ongoing collaboration between the universities participating in the consortium in achieving the proposed objectives.
5. The interest shown by other Spanish and European universities in joining the postgraduate program, which reinforces its potential for national and international recognition.
6. The appeal the program holds for students from different disciplinary fields and different countries, due to its innovative and pioneering nature.
7. The international recognition of both the inter-university doctoral program of reference and its faculty.