Art and youth participation

Transferable lessons for professional Social Work practice drawn from a community intervention project in Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Poverty, social exclusion and inequality remain structural issues in Bogotá (Colombia), particularly in southern neighbourhoods such as Rafael Uribe Uribe, where precarious living conditions have a particularly severe impact on children and young people. It is within this context that the Children and Youth Centre for Community Development (CINJUDESCO) has emerged, a neighbourhood-based initiative promoted by the Granjas de San Pablo Neighbourhood Association (ASOVEG) which, through art and popular education, has established a social intervention strategy aimed at promoting a culture of peace, strengthening life skills and building community resilience. The initiative integrates artistic expressions such as literary rap and freestyle, graffiti, breakdancing and urban dance as vehicles for education, participation and youth empowerment, and its organisation is based on collective action, self-management and community leadership, with significant participation from women and young people.

Objectives: This manuscript has three objectives: firstly, to present art as a tool for community intervention in contexts of social vulnerability; secondly, to describe the experience of CINJUDESCO, paying particular attention to its methodology for social intervention; and finally, to outline the role of the social work professional as an ‘ArteSano’ in these processes of social transformation.

Methods: The systematisation of this experience is based on a period of participant observation carried out by the author at CINJUDESCO between 31 July and 27 August 2025, during which he took part in meetings of the technical team and in community activities with teenagers and young people. The interpretation of the experience is organised in dialogue with the ArteSanos methodology, structured through the ACAPA strategy –Welcome, Get to Know, Understand, Plan and Act– and the ArteSanos Moments, which combine circles of trust, creative processes, group training and collaborative dynamics aimed at peaceful conflict resolution, the expression of identity and the reconstruction of the social fabric.

Critical analysis: Experience shows that artistic practices can serve as socio-educational mediations aimed at participation, the expression of identity, peaceful conflict resolution and the rebuilding of the social fabric. Art acts not only as a means of expression, but also as a tool for social transformation capable of strengthening young people’s agency and community cohesion. Key transferable lessons include the integration of artistic methodologies and critical pedagogies, the centrality of community participation, and the need to sustain these processes through inter-institutional partnerships. Challenges remain, however, regarding financial sustainability, institutional stability, and the recognition of art as a legitimate tool for social intervention.

Conclusions: The case of CINJUDESCO demonstrates the potential of community intervention through art as a strategy for social transformation in vulnerable urban contexts. In this regard, we advocate for the need to integrate art into social policies and the training of future social work professionals, recognising these practices as significant resources for enhancing community well-being.