Community education through graffiti and street art with youths: action research and visual ethnography in Collblanc-La Torrassa (L’Hospitalet de Llobregat)

Abstract

This article presents the main advances of a research on community education through graffiti and urban art with youths, developed between 2014 and 2018 in the Collblanc-La Torrassa district of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The research, carried out within the framework of a doctoral thesis, used a methodological device composed of action research and visual ethnography. The article describes how the research was conducted and exposes a selection of the most significant evidence collected. In particular, the contributions of this type of educational processes are related to the increase of collective identification with the territory, the promotion of youth empowerment and the strengthening of networking in communities.