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Coastal Connections Education Resource
We are delighted to share this learning resource with you, which is the culmination of an extraordinary collaboration between the Philippine Educational Theater Association, based in Manila, the Philippines, and Pilot Theatre, based in York, the United Kingdom.
PETA and Pilot are both theatre companies and arts education specialists, working with young people to inspire their creativity and to explore big ideas. Upon meeting each other’s artists and teams, we observed many similarities in our work, values and practices. We also learnt that both organisations had a track record of working with young people in coastal communities: in Pilot’s case, along the coastlines of North Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire; and, in the case of PETA, a longstanding history of working with communities from Infanta, in the region of Quezon.
We were struck by the similarities and differences between our nations, cultures and communities – and, in particular, we noted how the concerns of young people were shared, especially regarding the impact of climate change.
We identified how climate change would impact the young people we worked with in distinct ways, and recognised that the Philippines is considered to be one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
The unique opportunity presented itself to collaborate on an exchange project, which would explore the impacts of climate change on young people in coastal communities, and for arts practitioners to develop creative approaches to exploring these topics in the classroom.
In February 2025, movement practitioner Ayesha Fazal and theatre director Oliver O’Shea travelled to the Philippines to work with young people in Infanta, Quezon. This was followed by Senior Artist-Teachers Ada Marie Tayao and Johnnie Moran visiting the UK in March 2025, and working with young people in Bridlington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
During the workshops we delivered, we tested new creative exercises and ideas, in both formal and informal learning settings, which could be replicated by teachers and group leaders with their own participants.
This learning resource presents these creative exercises, accompanied with information and questions, to enable students to explore climate change in an international context.
We are grateful to the British Council’s Connections Through Culture programme for supporting this project.
Oliver O’Shea
Associate Director, Pilot Theatre
Norberto O. Portales III
Curriculum Director, PETA