This session presents two environmental art exhibitions developed in 2024 and 2025 as part of a longer journey of community-based environmental engagement at the Planetarium Science Center, Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The exhibitions, The Cry of a Planet (2024) and A Message from the Earth (2025), addressed plastic pollution and its impact on wildlife through participatory, art-driven approaches.

Both exhibitions were built using recycled paper and plastic waste collected from schools, volunteers, and staff homes, intentionally turning everyday waste into exhibition material. In 2025, A Message from the Earth transformed this waste into immersive artworks across three themed zones: Marine World, Forest, and City, highlighting how plastic pollution affects ecosystems across land and sea. The exhibition was presented during Environment Day 2025 and welcomed around 500 students at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center.
Rather than positioning visitors as passive viewers, the exhibitions were supported by guided tours, science shows, and hands-on activities tailored for young audiences. These interactions built on earlier initiatives, including recycling workshops across multiple governorates and the establishment of a plastic recycling hub that linked waste reduction with practical environmental action.

Through these exhibitions, the science center functioned as a hub for dialogue, creativity, and shared responsibility, connecting schools, educators, students, and families around a common environmental challenge. This session reflects on how art, sustainability, and community participation can be woven together to rethink engagement, foster belonging, and address global environmental issues through locally rooted practices relevant to the NAMES region.