Arts and Health in the European Context

In recent years, a growing body of research has demonstrated the impact of the arts on health and wellbeing. New programmes, national strategies, and public policies are emerging across Europe, while collaboration between the cultural and healthcare sectors is becoming increasingly systemic.

Yet one fundamental question remains: how can these changes be sustained? How do we advocate for the arts as an integral part of healthcare systems, and how can we scale practices that have already proven their effectiveness?

Speakers:

• Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.
• Monika Urian, Policy Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC).
• Cornelia Kiss, Head of Culture and Health at Culture Action Europe (CAE) and lead of the CultureAndHealth platform.
• Angela Kennedy, Professor, clinical psychologist, and leading expert in trauma-informed practice in the United Kingdom.

Moderator:

Ameer Shaheed, Arts & Health consultant working with the World Health Organization and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab.

The Arts and Health Congress is part of Healing Arts Ukraine — an arts and health campaign to support military health, veteran recovery and civilian resilience in times of conflict.

Healing Arts Ukraine was spearheaded by Art Therapy Force as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global Healing Arts initiative. The campaign was supported by the WHO Regional Office for Europe through the EU-funded Health Resilience in the Eastern Partnership Programme and co-produced by a national coalition of organisations working at the intersection of culture, healthcare, education, and policy, including the Lviv City Council, LME ‘Lviv radio’, the Institute for Cultural Strategy, the UNBROKEN Rehabilitation Centre, and King’s College London.