Workshops

Animation for Health and Well-being in Children´s Hospital Environments.
Workshop activities of the Lisbon team at the Paediatric Hospital Dona Estefânia (Lisbon)

The Living Mural — Spring Breeze

Part of the artistic and psychological research underpinning the development and delivery of the Healing Nature project was developed to actively engage the hospital community — including patients, staff, and visitors — to familiarize them with the concept and intention behind both the mural and the Augmented Reality (AR) application. The Lisbon team chose to implement participatory workshops following the installation of the murals and completion of the animation sequences.

This approach was designed to encourage a sense of community ownership of the imagery, provide insight into the project's vision and research foundations, and offer practical guidance on how to access and use the AR application on mobile devices — thereby fostering a deeper, more immersive experience of the artwork and strengthening engagement with the natural themes it represents.

Team & Logistics

Date

Held on 5th June 2026

Workshop Leaders

Hugo Barata, João Cabral — specialists in Workshop Design and Public/Community Interactions (Artist/Teacher/Researchers)

Workshop Support

Natalie Woolf (Lead Researcher Lisbon)
Jessica Fraude (MA student volunteer)
Paulo Diogo Simão (Workshop Assistant)

Sessions

Two sessions of 2 hours each
Up to 10 adults and 10 children per session

Location

The workshops were held in the Auditorium at Hospital Dona Estefania.

Audience

The Community of the Paediatric Hospital Dona Estefânia (Lisbon)
Patients aged 0–17 with carers/parents
Long to short term residents
Day visitors, past and present
Members of staff and their accompanying children

Concept & Description

This workshop was a participatory micro-laboratory exploring the interconnections between physical and the digital environments. The resulting works were triggered by the hospital's murals and were transformed through the participants' drawings and cut-outs into "animated" elements integrated into an experience of creative play using sound and form.

Playing with their own colourful creatures and shadow puppets in combination with the mobile phone app, the children engaged with the surrounding space, and learnt that there are multiple ways of interacting with the wall mural.

Activities

Phase 1 — Introduction

Introduction to the technologies used: the AR app and shadow play projectors; showing visual possibilities on the hospital walls (media literacy in an expressive, creative way).

Phase 2 — Creation

Design: Children worked with markers and paper to design their "creatures/characters" — drawing, paper cutting, and collage.

Guided Storytelling: Facilitators helped children give their creatures form, texture, size, etc.

Phase 3 — The Magic of Shadows and Colours (Projectors)

The "living" drawings: Children, with the help of facilitators, projected their forms/drawings onto the mural and surrounding communal walls.

Interactive Layering allowed for physical movement — children "moved" their characters across the wall manually, overlapping them with other children's work to create a collaborative "living mural."

Phase 4 — The Digital Bridge (Digital & Analogue Tools)

The "Life" Spark — technical explorations through light and sound.

Objectives

To involve children in co-creating expressive content
To enhance inclusion through Participatory Art (methodology)
To empower children by translating visual references into original characters/environments
To introduce children to analogue/digital animation and creative technologies
To stimulate imagination, storytelling, and visual thinking
To build confidence and a sense of belonging
To encourage engagement with nature
To foster empathy and solidarity