As part of the Z Harmony initiative – some of our workshop facilitators have been traveling around the country to regional centre’s working with school groups and youth groups to gauge a better understanding of how young people are dealing with the post-dead environment.
As part of our travels, we worked with Alma Primary School in Broken Hill. Many of the young people there were extremely articulate about their experiences and some of them even drew diagrams! 
Photo by Sasha Cohen
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The Z Harmony Institute: Educational Resources for the Post-Dead Environment
[Paul, A Student at Gymea Technical College]
“I didn’t mean to lash out at my cousin but I didn’t know what to do. I turned into a Zombie”
Expert educational facilitators have started the healing process in local high schools by conducting a series of workshops that ask young people to tell their stories and experiences with the post-dead. Students at Gymea Technical High School reenacted real moments from their lives using dioramas and miniature photo-puppets.
The Z Harmony Initiative: Educational Resources in the Post-Dead Environment
[In the school yard. An arts-workers observations ]
“Arts interventions with young people in the post-dead world is of the utmost importance. They need a platform to express their observations, ideas and experiences in this transitioning environment”
Case study workshops are currently being conducted at partner school Fairfield Intensive English Centre. This is a pilot arts program that will be implemented state-wide over the coming months as part of the Z Harmony Scheme. In the examples below, students combined text, illustration and photography to express their experiences with the undead and the unidentified alien species.
The Z Harmony Initiative: Educational Resources in the Post-Dead Environment
[An English Teacher, Sutherland Shire NSW]
“My students at Gymea Technical High School have been creating flipbook animations to explain their experiences. Some of them are a little out there – but I guess in the current environment – who am I to judge what’s real and what’s make-believe?”
The Z Harmony Initiative is currently conducting interviews and research with schools and educational facilities to better understand and engage new ways of educating young people in the post-dead world. One strategy that we have identified as being highly effective, is providing students creative ways to share their experiences and ideas and give them a forum to speak about the epidemic.
Lesson Recommendation: Make an Alien flipbook by drawing on a moment from your life when you felt like an alien. Draw your images on post-it notes or the corner of an old text book. Film the book while flipping through or scan into your computer to edit together.
The Z Harmony Initiative: Educational Resources in the Post-Dead Environment
[Educational Facilitator, The Z Harmony Initiative]
“Over the past 5 weeks case-study workshops have been conducted with Gymea Technical College students in an effort to re-evaluate the changing educational environment in the post-dead world. Students are overwhelmingly excitied about the opportunity to express their experiences with the Zombie epidemic and the affect the virus has had on their daily life.”
Lesson Recommendation: Create a Zombie altercation using dioramas and miniature photo puppets drawing from real stories from young people’s lives about problems that were hard to solve. The problem is then transformed into a Zombie.
In preparation for the Zombie take-over, we have been collecting artifacts to keep us safe, to remind us of how the world use to be or for scientific and historical keep-sake.
Here is how you can prepare your community group for the Zombie/Alien epidemic…
What you will need: Sticky labels, markers, camera or video camera.
Task: Ask your participants to explore the room, space or building and choose 6 – 7 objects that they think will be useful when the world is over run by Zombies. This could be a beloved book, a light source, a bottle of water etc.
What next: Take photos and upload them to the blog or make a series of video diaries where your participants explain why they have chosen particular artifacts and how the items might be useful in the current Zombie climate.
Here are some important artifacts collected by young people from Riverwood Community Centre…
At The Drive-In 