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Mapping of Initiatives on Culture, Health and Well-being

This is a directory of initiatives on culture, well-being and health across the European Union and other countries. It includes relevant policies, projects and programmes carried out at local, regional, national, European and international level. It serves as a learning tool for decision makers, practitioners and researchers interested in leveraging arts for public health and individual and community well-being.

To visualise the database, you can opt for a map or list view. You can use the advanced filter and search options to search initiatives based on target group, artistic discipline, country of implementation and keywords.

The mapping is an ongoing process, please make use of the Share Your Project feature of this website to add new initiatives.

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Number of projects: 809
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Teatro Accesible | Accessibility measures in theater for vulnerable groups

Project/initiative | Spain, Ecuador
Accessible Theater is a pioneering and unique project dedicated to integrating accessibility measures in theater in Spain. Accessible Theater is a project focused on accessibility in the performing arts to reach as soon as possible to fulfill the dream that “all theaters are accessible to all people". It was born in 2011 to ensure that…

Accessible Theater is a pioneering and unique project dedicated to integrating accessibility measures in theater in Spain. Accessible Theater is a project focused on accessibility in the performing arts to reach as soon as possible to fulfill the dream that “all theaters are accessible to all people".
It was born in 2011 to ensure that all theaters in Spain provide accessible content to people with sensory disabilities and the elderly. The values on which the project is based are the democratization of access to culture, universal accessibility and design for all, and equal rights for people with disabilities.
The Project is made up of a multidisciplinary team of subtitlers, audio describers, philologists, accessibility technicians, audiovisual producers, sign language interpreters, engineers and cultural managers. Its work focuses mainly on the adaptation of plays incorporating subtitling, audio description and sign language, equipping cultural centers with FM hearing aid systems and creating inclusive experiences such as tactile visits and discussions accessible to people with visual disabilities. It also offers adaptation of hand-held programs in easy reading and audio-descriptions for people with intellectual disabilities and people with visual disabilities.
In the 12 seasons that this project has accumulated, it has allowed more tan 18,000 people (6,500 people with disabilities) have been able to enjoy the culture of a standardized and inclusive way. In addition, the project has provided employment to people with disability and mental disorder.
The Accessible Theater project has contributed to the progress of accessibility in the arts performing arts, making nearly 181 theaters in 73 different cities accessible (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Logroño, Granada, among others). 795 works have been adapted and 2,300 accessible performances have been made.
Accessible Theater particularly benefits the group of older people, people deaf and hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired people and people with intellectual disabilities.
In 2019 this project extends to Latin America. Thus, in the 2019-2020 period it was put The “More Accessible Theater” project is underway with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, aimed at the internationalization of this model of cultural inclusion. The country selected to develop the activities of this project was Ecuador thanks to the collaboration with the Cultural Corporation Teatro Patio de Comedias of Quito, who in 2020 It turned 40 years old, being a reference theater in the cultural history of its capital Quito.

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Far and live - supporting well-being at work through creative and digital methods

Project/initiative | Finland
The first and main goal of the project is to support companies operating in the South Savo region in coping with the post-pandemic period of the Corona pandemic by promoting the well-being and resilience of company management and personnel in changing situations by utilizing creative methods. The second goal of the project is to create…

The first and main goal of the project is to support companies operating in the South Savo region in coping with the post-pandemic period of the Corona pandemic by promoting the well-being and resilience of company management and personnel in changing situations by utilizing creative methods. The second goal of the project is to create functional digital methods that can be used as creative methods to promote mental well-being even outside of guided events, and which companies and participants can continue to use after the project. The third goal is to promote public awareness of the possibilities of creative methods and awareness of the importance of mental well-being for well-being at work and coping at work.
The aim is also to pilot a new operating model in which occupational health care can guide and / or inform an employee or entrepreneur about the possibility of participating in creative art-based workshops organized in the project. Mental well-being is thus promoted through the possibility of a low threshold to participate.
The main target group of the project is the management representatives of 20 companies in South Savonia and their personnel. the industry or size of the companies is not limited. Municipalities and public organizations are also included.
Workshops, pilots, and events supporting well-being at work will be organized as measures of the project. The social and mental functioning of people in working life is maintained and improved by combining different creative methods. Creative methods include, for example, remote computer or telephone participation in platforms where images, drawings, music and self-employment can be taken out of the workday, as well as creative workshops for individuals and groups working under the guidance of experts using different methods. Workshops will also be held for present implementation. A significant share of purchase financing has been set aside for the implementation of the measures, with which know-how is acquired from companies in the creative industries. This directly supports the business of companies in the creative industries, which has been in great difficulty during the corona.

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Music project for people with dementia

Project/initiative | Germany
They do a choir-concert, staging a choir of people with dementia or other mental challenges, all aged 65+. They are showing that it is possible to enable people with various challenges to form and perform, addressing an audience of people with and without special needs, thus offering a concert experience to those, otherwise excluded.

They do a choir-concert, staging a choir of people with dementia or other mental challenges, all aged 65+. They are showing that it is possible to enable people with various challenges to form and perform, addressing an audience of people with and without special needs, thus offering a concert experience to those, otherwise excluded.

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Advocacy, promotion of joint practices in arts, culture and health

Policy | Canada
The organisation proposes 3 phases: 1. Sketch the current state of the field, mapping of initiatives: Identify and document arts, culture and health initiatives throughout Quebec. Identify the successes, obstacles and issues that emerge from joint practices in arts, culture and health in Quebec. 2. Promote the sharing of knowledge, best practices and tools based…

The organisation proposes 3 phases:
1. Sketch the current state of the field, mapping of initiatives: Identify and document arts, culture and health initiatives throughout Quebec. Identify the successes, obstacles and issues that emerge from joint practices in arts, culture and health in Quebec.
2. Promote the sharing of knowledge, best practices and tools based on arts and culture that have shown positive impacts on collective health and well-being (including resilience, social cohesion, reduction of loneliness and isolation).
3. Promote existing initiatives and promising interventions by focusing on arts and culture for the well-being of populations, including post-pandemic recovery.

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Opera wow. From viewers to producers.

Project/initiative | Italy
Opera Wow is a project dedicated exclusively to adolescents and their emotional complexities, in which creativity can be set in motion as a resource of resilience, transformation and growth. It wants to be an innovative action whose primary purpose is not only to convey to the young people in the city the knowledge of one…

Opera Wow is a project dedicated exclusively to adolescents and their emotional complexities, in which creativity can be set in motion as a resource of resilience, transformation and growth.
It wants to be an innovative action whose primary purpose is not only to convey to the young people in the city the knowledge of one of the five greatest composers in the world and of his works, but also to use him as a proper tool in a complicated period such as adolescence.
A path to accompany students and their educators, starting from the Opera and passing through electronic music, thanks to the power of melodrama and the universal and profound stories that tell of young people, loves, challenges, initiations, victories and of defeats.
The organisation expects teenagers will enjoy music and will have a relevant experience thanks to an opera of 200 years. They also aim to break down the wall that separates music genres and especially opera from the other music, helping teenagers to know themselves better and to create new relationships.
In their perspective, the audience comprises not only people who are buying a ticket and the city theatres have the duty to enroll and engage citizens at different levels and contribute to their well-being.

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Music therapy in healthcare

Policy | Germany
The organisation works for the recognition of music therapy as part of the German healthcare system in clinical practice, research and political initiatives.

The organisation works for the recognition of music therapy as part of the German healthcare system in clinical practice, research and political initiatives.

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Arts for Health & Wellbeing

Project/initiative | United Kingdom
In September 2022, Wandsworth Council called out for local arts and cultural organisations to apply for a new funding opportunity, designed to support creative activity focused on health and wellbeing in the borough. Wandsworth Council are currently supporting nine organisations to deliver creative health & wellbeing programmes across the borough, between January 2023 and June…

In September 2022, Wandsworth Council called out for local arts and cultural organisations to apply for a new funding opportunity, designed to support creative activity focused on health and wellbeing in the borough. Wandsworth Council are currently supporting nine organisations to deliver creative health & wellbeing programmes across the borough, between January 2023 and June 2024.

Wandsworth’s Arts for Health & Wellbeing programme adds a new cultural offer to the award-winning Social Prescribing programme already operating in the borough, and is delivered in partnership with Enable and South West London Integrated Care System.

In order to support the development of the Creative Health sector in the borough, Wandsworth Council is working to develop a Community of Creative Health Practice through regular training, sharing and networking opportunities.

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L-Abe, Laboratory for Art, Wellbeing and Education

Programme | Spain
The research laboratory L-ABE (Art, Wellbeing and Education) is made up of specialists in the field of art therapy, artistic mediation and creation. L-ABE organises weekly workshop-visits for the general public and specific or special groups, from a participatory, self-reflexive and art-therapeutic approach. L-ABE proposes participatory activities where the group will end up developing a…

The research laboratory L-ABE (Art, Wellbeing and Education) is made up of specialists in the field of art therapy, artistic mediation and creation. L-ABE organises weekly workshop-visits for the general public and specific or special groups, from a participatory, self-reflexive and art-therapeutic approach.
L-ABE proposes participatory activities where the group will end up developing a creative work,
reflecting on everyday disobediences, small but perceptible resistances that, little by little, undermine a
little by little undermine a hegemonic system.

Methodology
The methodology based on art therapy proposes the approach to artistic objects from the connection, intercorporality, experience, projection, symbolisation and taking into consideration the union of perception-cognition-emotion. In this methodology, the creative process becomes a means of knowledge and introspection, at the same time as it brings out the link with others and one's own life project. The artistic object simultaneously embodies the transitional object that allows the connection of the being with the environment and culture. With this approach, each visit-workshop becomes a space of thought-action-emotion-transformation. of joint thought-action-emotion-transformation. In addition, the methodology of the sessions has been based on experiential education, given that we consider that the most valuable seed for generating meaningful learning is in the personal experiences that occur largely through the senses and emotion, together with memory and cognitive capacity. For this reason, the dialogued visits and the art therapy workshops have been the body-mind relationship of the people, favouring dialogue and group reflection so that they can give a personal and social meaning to what they experience in each part of the visit-workshop, discovering information about the works, in order to enrich the experience. The work of art thus becomes a dialectical element that opens up to its knowledge from the creative person -his or her space and time of creation-, but also from the space-time in which the work is perceived, the space-time of the visitors and their own narrative. The work acts as a germ of meaning open to interpretation in the exhibition device, generating new experiences for visitors.
L-ABE is a free activity offered to all audiences, from 6 to 106 years old, on Sundays, and during the week it is offered to groups on demand. These groups include children and adolescents in therapeutic day centres, homeless people, people in prison, victims of gender violence, health workers, among many others. LABE previously agrees objectives and procedures with the intervention team.

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Arts and Mental Health Festival

Project/initiative | Greece
Greek Carers Network Epioni in collaboration with the Municipality of Aegina and the Aegina Health Centre successfully organised the first multi-thematic festival entitled “Art and Mental Health” on the beautiful island of Aegina with free participation. The festival contributed to raising public awareness of mental health issues and promoted the use of art as a…

Greek Carers Network Epioni in collaboration with the Municipality of Aegina and the Aegina Health Centre successfully organised the first multi-thematic festival entitled “Art and Mental Health” on the beautiful island of Aegina with free participation.
The festival contributed to raising public awareness of mental health issues and promoted the use of art as a therapeutic tool. Participants from Greece and abroad had the opportunity to attend sessions on visual art, music, and theatre and speeches from notable participants
The Festival took place in the framework of European Mental Health Week (22-28 May 2023) and was held under the auspices of the Region of Attica and the Hellenic Psychiatric Association.
This community action aimed to inform and educate the local community of Aegina on issues related to mental health. The focus was on art, which is a lever of expression for people facing mental health problems.
The Arts & Mental Health festival was attended by citizens, artists, mental health professionals from Greece and abroad, people with mental health problems and family carers.
The festival in Aegina provided an opportunity for stakeholders from Aegina, Athens and abroad to meet, exchange views, share experiences and inspire each other about the use of art in mental health.
The festival was held at the Aegina Historical and Folklore Museum.
The Festival had a European dimension as it was held in collaboration with mental health organisations from Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Croatia, Italy and Denmark.
The “Arts and Mental Health” festival hosted workshops, talks, theatre performances by people with mental health problems, visual arts, photography and contemporary music performances from Aegina. The participating institutions were: PEPSAEE, Workshop, SOPSY Korydallos, EDRA, P.Sakellaropoulos Society of Social Psychiatry, obrela, Hellenic Alzheimer’s Society, Saronic Nephrological Center , EUFAMI and ANTAMA KOIN.S.EP
The two-day multidisciplinary festival was co-funded by the EU.

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Care: Economies of Eudaimonia

Programme | Greece
A week-long research residency program, a collective learning and caring experience, a call for creative people whose work is based on research, experimentation, and collaborations. Recently inaugurated (October 2022), it took place in Crete, and brought together nine cultural practitioners from different fields (curators, artist-performers, writers, historians, place makers, researchers, cultural managers) as well as…

A week-long research residency program, a collective learning and caring experience, a call for creative people whose work is based on research, experimentation, and collaborations. Recently inaugurated (October 2022), it took place in Crete, and brought together nine cultural practitioners from different fields (curators, artist-performers, writers, historians, place makers, researchers, cultural managers) as well as 6 speakers-workshop leaders (university professors, researchers, architects, performers, writers), all of whom have studied, in different and various ways, the topic of care. Starting with the “Care Manifesto” by the Care Collective, over the course of eight days, during workshops, presentations, and debates, we discussed community-led co-creative projects, case studies and empirical studies on the social organization of care in Greece within broader interdisciplinary approaches, the crisis of social care and healthcare in Greece and abroad, the gradual shrinking of the welfare state, the refugee crisis, the pandemic, and the environmental crisis, as well as the secondary traumas of carers, the lack of (their) care, and ‘care washing’.

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Disclaimer

The mapping is an ongoing process, please make use of the 'Share Your Project' feature of this website to add new initiatives. Click *HERE* to find the 'Share Your Project' feature.

 

If you would like to make changes to a project or initiative already included in the database, please contact us at contact@art-well-being.eu