Sons del Cel is a cross-disciplinary educational project promoted by the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (MeteoCat), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona, with the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

This is an educational pathway that, from a multidisciplinary perspective, aims to address a global issue that affects all of society: noise pollution. Through artistic, scientific, environmental, and health-related approaches, children will develop skills and knowledge that will enable them to become aware of their sound environment, with the goal of finding strategies to reduce noise pollution in the classroom and at school.In other words, this project promotes skill-based learning that is transferable, meaningful, lasting, productive, and functional.

The project runs throughout the school year. Participating students take part in two workshops on sound exploration and music creation at school, attend a concert-show at the Palau de la Música Catalana, take part in a sound recording workshop at the Botanical Garden, and finally participate in a closing summit. All workshops are delivered by educators or artists connected to the promoting institutions, and complementary materials are regularly provided so that the music, science or tutoring departments at school can continue to deepen the topics covered.

Throughout the project, tutors must monitor the activities carried out and also attend the initial online meeting.

Abilities

Ability to listen to and observe our environment in a more active and conscious way.

Ability to empathize with others and with future generations.

Ability to analyze, think, create, and transform our environment.

Knowledge

Knowledge: artistic, scientific, linguistic, environmental, social, and health-related.

Purposes

Becoming aware of the sound environment and the problems that noise pollution generates in our society to seek shared solutions for improvement. Actively engaging to make the school a space of silence, dialogue, peace, and developing the capacity for attentive and conscious listening that connects us with the world around us.

Barcelona is the noisiest city in the Western world; noisier than Paris, London, or New York.

According to the WHO, noise pollution is the second most harmful environmental factor for human health, as it causes stress, sleep disorders, poor performance, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, among others, and has negative effects on children's cognitive development. Exposure to certain levels of noise pollution hinders neural connections and leads to cognitive decline in children.

School is a space for socialization and learning where children spend much of their lives with the goal of developing holistically. For this development to take place, schools must ensure a healthy sound environment (calm, quiet, respectful) and at the same time promote learning situations that encourage the contemplative listening of sound and silence. Environmental noise and the constant movement of children in the classroom become disruptive elements that make it difficult for them to develop sustained and focused attention.

Music, silence, and contact with nature can help us become aware of this issue. Consciously listening to high-quality music or the sounds of nature can help us reconnect with ourselves and with our innate ability to listen, observe, and create.