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This article reflects on the focus group as a research technique used in an analysis of the relationship between learning spaces and pedagogy, developed as part of the assessment of the secondary school modernisation programme in Portugal. The research proposes a methodological innovation in the use of focus group, by developing focus groups before, during and after tours to the schools. The focus groups in this format were particularly important for the research since they facilitated a dynamic of social interaction and the expression of views and opinions among groups of pupils and teachers about the impact of the renovations on education practices. They also highlighted some of the specific aspects of the interaction between the appropriation processes and the object of the intervention, which was in itself object of contradictory interpretations. Further, this technique enables the attainment of a triangulation strategy, central to the study.

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Culture has been highlighted as an enabler and driver of sustainable development, in its three dimensions-economic, social and environmental (UN in Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2017-A/RES/72/229, 2018ç)-though the potential of arts education to contribute to sustainable development remains an under-explored topic. Artists have engaged in arts education programmes both as a tool for human and sustainable development and as a resource for the sustainability of their work. Our approach is based on an ongoing arts education project with four schools in Portugal targeting students from vulnerable social backgrounds called "Seven Years, Seven Schools", which is based on the "Seven Years, Seven Plays" artistic project by Portuguese performing artist Cláudia Dias. The education project is promoted by Alkantara Association and receives funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's sustainable development programme PARTIS. The research, which is currently in progress, adopts a participatory evaluation approach in evaluation, based on a methodology that includes: document analysis; meetings and workshops with the participating artists, the teachers and the team from the promoter; interviews with the artists and the teachers; workshops with the students; direct and participant observation of workshops with both the artists and the students including the public performance of the plays, and the public presentation of the students' work.

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