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Description of initiative
RED NOSES Clowndoctors was founded in 1994 in Austria as a non-profit organisation, bringing humour and laughter to people in need of joy. In 2003 the charitable non-profit foundation RED NOSES Clowndoctors International (RNI), also based in Austria, was established as headquarters of the RED NOSES group. Its tasks are to build up, monitor and support international RED NOSES local organisations. In doing so, RED NOSES International simultaneously develops and maintains high ethical and artistic quality standards in all its clown programmes within the group.
Today, RED NOSES Clowndoctors is one of the largest clown doctor groups in the world with local organisations in 11 countries. In 2020, the international team of more than 400 professionally trained artists brought joy and laughter to more than 400.000 people in 583 medical and social institutions. The RED NOSES group has developed a wide range of specific formats within its programmes for all major beneficiaries: children in hospitals, medical and care staff, elderly people, children with disabilities as well as refugees.
RED NOSES has high artistic quality standards and is constantly investing in the training of its professional artists. With the implementation of a solid and uniformed curriculum, the RED NOSES group seeks to remain in the vanguard of artistic quality by providing the best possible training and education for its clowndoctors.
The vision of RED NOSES is that all people in need of joy are better able to reconnect to themselves, each other, and the beauty of all human emotions. This is what drives their mission: They are an artistic organisation bringing humour and laughter to people in need of joy.
• They believe in the ‘use of humour and the art of clowning’ as invaluable tools to connect to those that feel socially disconnected and improve their emotional wellbeing. With artistic interventions they want to give those in need the possibility to experience the richness and diversity of cultural expression.
• As they interact with people in need of joy, they seek to unlock their creative potential, strengthen their ability to cope with difficulties, and help towards a higher emotional wellbeing. They seek to create more supportive environments in care settings, where the use of humour and art are embraced by care providers, leading to more empathetic interactions with people in need.
• They use the experiences to inspire policy makers and conduct research for evidence-based advocacy towards one goal: to enable greater access to humour and art for people in need. They partner with like-minded organisations and use their networks of partners to amplify the message.
• Laughing and humour resonates with individuals all over the world. By using the universal language of laughter and human emotions, RED NOSES clowns are in the unique position to easily overcome linguistic, cultural and religious barriers and foster intercultural dialogue.
Themes: Culture and...
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Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
All RED NOSES activities contribute towards increasing the capacity of people in need of joy to reconnect to themselves and the beauty of all human emotions. This impact is achieved through the three primary outcomes of RED NOSES work:
- Higher emotional well-being
- Greater Social Inclusion
- More supportive environments
In 2020 RED NOSES organisations reached more than 400.000 young and elderly people in health and care institutions.