An in‐service teachers' training programme was designed aiming to encourage art teachers to learn through theoretical and artistic experiential activities in a specific environmental setting (Lemithou environmental education centre, Cyprus). The programme was based on the use of the environment as an educational resource, and sought to develop participants' environmental perception through artistic activities. Teachers (N=12) from public nursery, elementary and secondary schools, with particular interests and backgrounds in visual arts were invited to participate. The present study is particularly concerned with participants' artistic work inspired by the environment in three different settings of the area: (1) natural (e.g. forest) (2) the rural‐building (e.g. the village) and (3) culture and tradition (e.g. myths and people). Qualitative methods based on observation; diary reports and photographic material were applied on a case study basis. Results revealed teachers': (1) abilities in integrating environmental aspects in their artistic work, (2) positive attitude and interest for environmental art, (3) abilities in enhancing their personal power of artistic expression based on their experiences and the world around them. The findings highlight the significance of artistic experiential activities (hands‐on activities) and critical enquiry in developing teachers' environmental perception.

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The paper reports on a study of young children and the nature of their art learning based on the in-depth approach and in the context of chorotopos (space-place, area, landscape, region, village or town). The sample includes 50 children drawn from three classrooms in three early childhood settings in the area of Thessaloniki and Chalkidiki, Greece. Classroom observation notes, audiotaped analysis, photographic material and the artworks of children were used to find out the influences of the programs to young children's art learning. Findings indicate that artistic activities in relation to their chorotopos and in-depth exploration of materials made children more situated to their own environment and enabled them to understand the potential expressiveness of materials and their inherent meaning. Teachers' role was decisive in providing special ''scaffolding'' to further the exploratory process in an interactive environment of learning. The findings highlight the significance of learning in, through and about art by allowing children to experience their personal environment through objects and materials encountered in their chorotopos, to appreciate its richness and to see themselves as part of it.