Mapping of Initiatives on Culture, Health and Well-being

ClowNexus is a large scale cooperation project co-funded by Creative Europe. From November 2020 to October 2023, eight European Healthcare Clowning Organisations will explore more in detail how arts and humour can be used to develop stronger social connections, and enable better communication with (1) people living with dementia, (2) children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their environments.
ClowNexus provides the space to develop new artistic formats and approaches in a co-creative process. Throughout the project clown artists from seven countries will meet in several artistic laboratories and develop new artistic formats and approaches together with their co-creators: elderly people with dementia, children and teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorder, their family members, carers, social experts and artists from other artistic fields.
With the project ClowNexus, the organizers want to find a common path to create, play, laugh and enjoy art together, giving time and space to everybody to express their perspectives, feelings and creativity.
The main project goals are:
- to improve the access to artistic performances and contribute to the social inclusion of people with dementia as well as children and teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- to strengthen the capacity of healthcare clowning organisations in Europe to co-create and to implement transformative learning processes
ClowNexus aims to:
- increase the wellbeing and social inclusion of vulnerable groups
- increase the capacity of healthcare clowning organisations to create art for and with vulnerable groups
- increase the awareness of the value of arts for well-being

Anne-Marth Hogewoning and photographer Cigdem Yuksul taught people to open up to dementia. They made the photo series Alzheimer Whispering from the stories they heard and saw, they made special portraits of and with people with dementia. Together with Adelheid, Anne-Marth Hogewoning Cigdem Yuksul developed the Alzheimer Whispering method and started their project of the same name. For the project they went out with people with dementia, their sons, daughters and grandchildren. They listen to their stories and they taught people to be open to dementia, to improvise and let go of shyness. Cigdem Yuksul captured the stories with her camera. The result is the beautiful photo series Alzheimer Whispering.

With the mental health program Open up with Vincent, the Van Gogh Museum wants to make a positive contribution to the conversation about mental health through art and the life story of Vincent van Gogh. Vincent van Gogh experienced the healing power of art in his life and drew comfort and hope from it. For him, painting was the only remedy for the psychological complaints with which he struggled. Scientific research also shows that art promotes health and general well-being. In this time, when many young adults indicate that they experience stress and gloomy feelings and the consequences of a two-year pandemic have a major impact on our mental well-being, art can play a positive role in preventing or mitigating psychological complaints.
The Open up with Vincent program was developed together with young adults, care institutions and professionals specialized in mental health. It consists of activities such as mindfulness sessions and painting workshops in the museum, at external locations and online. In addition, teaching materials for primary and secondary education are also available. Artworks are a great source or 'anchor' to practice mindfulness. People experience mindfulness with their senses, such as looking. A museum is therefore a pleasant, accessible place. You step out of the issues of the day for a while, look at art, and be amazed. On some Wednesdays there are mindful art viewing sessions in the museum at some of the masterpieces in the Van Gogh and the Olive Groves exhibition. There is a mindfulness trainer that takes participants on guided meditations of approximately seven minutes on the paintings Olijfgaard (1889) and Kreupelhout (1889) by Vincent van Gogh.

The Embassy of the Netherlands in Italy and BAM! Cultural Strategies launched a Call for Projects aimed at public bodies, cultural institutions, associations that had developed cultural projects dedicated to the elderly in order to develop and share best practices between professionals from Italy and the Netherlands. More than 130 high-quality projects joined the call. As a result of the call, 12 entities were selected to participate in an online day of meetings on the topic.
The mapping was finally published online, for each of these projects a brief introduction is offered and is explained what could be observed by comparing the projects with each other. The objective of the research was to have a first overview that would allow the Embassy to understand the most appropriate direction to take in the coming years on the topic of creative aging and thus get to know Italian cultural realities with which to undertake possible collaborations.

In November 2020, the European Dancehouse Network launched a #DanceAndWellBeing campaign, to help raise awareness about the essential role of dance in our societies and in maintaining our physical and mental wellbeing. Seventeen artists-lead online dance classes and one research later, EDN issued a publication indicating how dance organisations and artistic practice help increase individual and relational well-being, while promoting values related to solidarity, cohesion and intercultural dialogue. The publication issued in June 2021 includes policy recommendations and a selection of resources.

Policy project co-funded by the European Commission. From 2018 to 2021, the project has developed new ways for cities and regions to bring together the public administration and the cultural sector to co-create public policies. CCSC shows that culture and commoning practices can transform neighbourhoods and cities into more sustainable places, catalysing better lives for their communities. To achieve the overall goal of the project, three key objectives were set:
1. Explore: Explore and test how to best approach current urban challenges through commoning practices, co-creation and policy development.
2. Learn: Foster and facilitate peer-to-peer learning, exchange and training of commoning practices within cities and between cities and regions.
3. Research, Disseminate & Sustain: Research and document the outcomes of peer-to-peer learning and make them available for wider use via open-source models, both for policy development, commoning politics and co-creation.
One of the reports produced during the project, ”Mapping of EU projects, policies, programmes, and networks: a policy report to support Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities”, maps the recommendations, best practices, and key case studies of 20 previous EU-funded projects, programmes, initiatives and networks related to the policy issues of CCSC. It builds upon the indicators developed during the project and the CCSC charter, to compare the ways in which previous projects have explored themes of culture as a common good, urban commons, participation at the local level, and bottom-up decision-making. It also includes examples of initiatives linking culture and well-being/ health (e.g. Work Plan for Culture 2019-2021, Turku European Capital of Culture 2011, etc.).

EUREGA’s main objective is to have food, food habits and gastronomy included and recognised in EU, regional and national strategies and policies both as a cultural asset and strong element in regional cultural identity and as a necessary tool to boost sustainable products and services. This should lead to creating stronger and more resilient regions by protecting and stimulating gastronomy as part of their cultural heritage and also by identifying new opportunities for economic development. As a result of international partners working together for four years the seven Action Plans, each region is to produce as main outcome will introduce significant improvement to the targeted policy instruments (Operational Programmes or Regional Development Strategies) leading to economic revival of the food and gastronomy sector as cultural heritage in the regions involved. EUREGA wishes to focus on the following sub-themes of “Gastronomy AND:
- support for SMEs (including SMEs in strengthening and developing short regional food supply chains)
- education (increasing the representation of gastronomy and creativity in educational programmes)
- sustainable tourism (improving policies to meet sustainable tourism objectives)
- linking urban and rural (linking urban and rural development strategies as relates to gastronomy)
- health (exploiting cultural heritage in relation to well-being, education, tourism and hospitality)

The project will promote art-therapy among hospitalized patients with special attention to senior citizens, considering that art-therapy and creativity actions in general are preventive measures against mental deterioration. The goals are:
- to increase creativity in hospitalized patients with special attention to senior citizens;
- to favour the communication, motivation and social support of family members toward senior citizens;
- to improve the quality of life of isolated and hospitalized patients through the social support and improving their competences.
The project will reach these goals through the creation of the following 3 intellectual outputs, translated into 6 languages (EN, IT, FR, SP, NL, RO):
1. The Guide of Art Therapy for Covid-19 patients : a 200 pages guide supporting senior citizens, hospitalized patients and other people in quarantine in developing skills of art-therapy to improve their psychological wellbeing during the isolation. This manual will be a valid support for all patients in developing skills of creativity and adult educators to create dedicated educational programmes for increasing creativity in hospitalized patients.
2. E-learning platform Art Therapy for senior citizens in Covid-19 isolation: a 6 module online training piloted and tailored on the needs of senior citizens which will show through video lectures how to perform art therapy in isolation. This intellectual output will be highly tailored to be adapted also to patients which are unfamiliar with digital technologies through a dedicated piloting session among 90 participants.
3. Motivational App for Psychological Support, Creativity and Artworks Production for hospitalized patients: an App which allow senior citizens and hospitalized patients to be supported by family members, to upload artworks and do peer support with other patients worldwide. This support and motivational network based on art will improve the quality of life of users.

Future Architecture is the first pan-European platform of architecture museums, festivals and producers, bringing ideas on the future of cities and architecture closer to the wider public. The aim of the platform was to identify and explore new models of creative work that could provide future generations in Europe with a more stable perspective, thus contributing to a more harmonious development of the European economy, living environment and society as a whole. In the platform’s European Architecture Programme - series of significant and interconnected architectural happenings and events in Europe -, there were also 2 events directly connected to the theme of health and well-being: Tirana Design Week 2021: Health & Wellbeing in the Post-Pandemic City and Urban Talk 1 / Minimal Dwelling – Maximal Wellbeing – Test 2020.

Dance On, Pass On, Dream On is a cooperation between 11 European dance institutions to address structural ageism and the fragility of intangible heritage in the dance sector. During its 1st phase, from 2016 – 2019, the project put forward a European strategy for a sustainable dance praxis valuing age and embodied knowledge on stage and in society. Building on this strategy, the 2nd phase of DOPODO will expand its scope and geographical reach in all three project strands: Dance On envisions a Europe of ageless movement, where older dancers are valued for their experience and charisma. More than 200 exceptional professional dancers between 40 and 80 will be offered employment opportunities to produce 24 new dance works created in transnational co-operation. They will result in 395 performances in 18 countries, including at 11 international festivals. The Dance On Ensemble will set an example as a best practice approach to a European touring dance company for older dancers. Pass On imagines a Europe that cherishes its dance heritage and preserves it as a source of inspiration for future generations. 9 intergenerational productions and 25 masterclasses for over 620 dance students recognise the important role of older dancers as carriers of embodied knowledge. 3 digital dance archives and 12 digitisation workshops for researchers and industry professionals, plus 4 co-operations with European museums, will make Europe’s neglected dance heritage more visible.Dream On builds a Europe where every body matters, where dancing and creative activities are a natural part of growing older. 10 participatory dance projects in 8 countries will invite over 2.200 older people to collaborate with dancers and artists. 8 peer learning activities will develop the sector’s capacity for providing meaningful experiences for older people, improving happiness and wellbeing. Documentations of local projects will result in 3 short films that will bring the work to a wider European audience. This project is the continuation of another large-scale Creative Europe project in 2016, addressing the problem of ageism in the dance sector.