The Art of Staying Healthy
Project Duration
19 July 2021 – 31 October 2022
At the beginning of the summer of 2021 a programme called “The Art of Staying Healthy” was launched. The programme is led by a joint project team, representing the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC), EUNIC Global and The Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS), supported by the Arts Promotion Centre from Finland. Jointly, we aimed to empower collaboration between the arts and health sectors and to pilot arts interventions in the health and well-being of people and communities in the Northern Dimension area.
During the open call we received 56 eligible applications and unique project ideas from ten countries on how arts can foster the well-being of people in. In order to participate in the open call, the applicants had to prove their existing or committed collaboration with partner(s) from another sector, as well as the level of necessity and sustainability of the project idea. With the help of a selection committee of five experts, 11 projects from seven countries were selected.
In the programme “The Art of Staying Healthy”, participants received funding for pilot projects, the opportunity to participate in knowledge-based workshops and mentoring support. The planned duration of the programme – till the end of 2022.
NDPC, EUNIC and NDPHS strongly believe in the potential and importance of representing the creative cultural industries in the health and well-being sector to make sustainable impact within society. We were very excited to start the journey by tackling the question “Can culture improve well-being?” together with an amazing group of professionals from the Northern Dimension countries.
The Art of Staying Healthy programme is a part of the joint project between NDPC and EUNIC “Support to the NDPC”, co-funded by the European Commission. #NDcrossCreate
Lessons learned for further use
After the project, NDPC and NDPHS initiated and produced a “Talking Points: Arts and Health in Communities” guide built on the lessons learned in the “Art of Staying Healthy:” pilot projects . It aims to offer support to arts and health practitioners interested in creative approaches to wellbeing. Read more and download the guide here.
