Mapping of Initiatives on Culture, Health and Well-being

The overall aim of this Strategy is to empower people with disabilities so that they can enjoy their full rights, and benefit fully from participating in society and in the European economy, notably through the Single market. Achieving this and ensuring effective implementation of the UN Convention across the EU calls for consistency. This Strategy identifies actions at EU level to supplement national ones, and it determines the mechanisms needed to implement the UN Convention at EU level, including inside the EU institutions. It also identifies the support needed for funding, research, awareness-raising, statistics and data collection.
This Strategy focuses on eliminating barriers. The Commission has identified eight main areas for action: Accessibility, Participation, Equality, Employment, Education and training, Social protection, Health, and External Action. Within the ”Participation” area for action, the Strategy acknowledges that there are still many obstacles preventing people with disabilities from fully exercising their fundamental rights - including their Union citizenship rights - and limiting their participation in society on an equal basis with others. Those rights include the right to free movement, to choose where and how to live, and to have full access to cultural, recreational, and sports activities. To address this challenge, the Commission aimed to work to improve the accessibility of sports, leisure, cultural and recreational organisations, activities, events, venues, goods and services including audiovisual ones.

An initiative of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Charter stands as a key framework document for integrated sustainable urban development in Europe. It is accompanied by an Implementing document which intends to guide the next phase of the Urban Agenda for the EU according to renewed parameters. This framework reaffirms the objectives and achievements of the Pact of Amsterdam, thus linking the Urban Agenda for the EU’s working method to the New Leipzig Charter’s strategic principles. The Charter highlights that cities need to establish integrated and sustainable urban development strategies and ensure their implementation for the city as a whole, from its functional areas to its neighbourhoods.
The document is strongly aligned with the Cohesion Policy and its framework for sustainable urban development. Member States agreed to implement the Charter in their national or regional urban policies. The Charter acknowledges that urban transformation is based on the integration of the social, ecological and economic dimensions of sustainable development. The just city is a city which provides opportunities for everyone to integrate in society. All social groups, including the most vulnerable, should have equal access to services of general interest, including education, social services, health care and culture. Public authorities should act in the interest of public welfare, providing services and infrastructure for the common good. This should cover health care, social services, education, cultural services, housing, water and energy supply, waste management, public transport, digital networks and information systems.
Furthermore, the quality of public spaces including green and blue infrastructure as well as the preservation and revitalisation of built cultural heritage are important. High-quality, open and safe public spaces function as vibrant urban places, allowing people to interact, exchange and integrate into society. Good urban planning and design should be reinforced to enable compact, socially and economically mixed cities with well-developed infrastructure and a healthy environment and opportunities for identification contributing to the well-being of all. This requires a holistic understanding of high-quality Baukultur as the basis of integrated planning and design processes for every man-made shaping of the built environment in European cities.

JA MH-WB, launched in 2013, aims at building a framework for action in mental health policy at the European level and builds on previous work developed under the 2008 European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being. The objective is to contribute to the promotion of mental health and well-being, the prevention of mental disorders and the improvement of care and social inclusion of people with mental disorders in Europe. The initiative also looks at mental heath policies in arts and culture, as reflected in one of its reports, i.e. ”Mental Health in All Policies. Situation analysis and recommendations for action” (sub-chapter ”Cultural activities, the arts and mental health”). The report of the final conference of the Joint Action states that : ”Access to, and participating in, cultural and social activities, as well as outdoor recreation and green spaces promote mental health and wellbeing. Personal safety, the safeguarding of human rights, and community involvement are all conducive to mental health and wellbeing. Interventions to prevent mental disorders include interventions to address inequalities, prevention of childhood adversities and abuse, stopping bullying at school and reduction of stress in the workplace.”
The initiative is coordinated by Nova Medical School (Portugal) and has 51 partners (30 associated and 21 collaborating) representing 28 EU Member States and 11 European organizations.

The policy document acknowledges that investing in the future of the Western Balkans also means investing in research, innovation, health, education, culture, youth and sport, which are powerful tools to boost not only the region’s economic development, resilience and competitiveness, but also its social cohesion, meaning full economic participation for all its citizens. It mentions that further IPA funding could subsequently support investments in rural areas and agriculture, in the cultural and creative sectors, in health and human capital development, including education, and to boost cross border cooperation, including on innovation.
The EU aims to support the development of human capital by increasing IPA funding, in particular as regards the reform priorities identified in the Economic Reform Programme process and joint policy guidance in the areas of education and skills, employment, and social protection and inclusion. Emphasis will also be put on youth, health, culture and sport. Although the Communication does not mention per se the role of culture in health and well-being, these two fields are mentioned together in numerous cases as important elements in building the region’s economic development, resilience and social cohesion, which creates relevant space for further fruitful synergies in practice.
The document targets Western Balkans countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia.

The RRF is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, the European Union's plan for recovering from the economic and social damage of the coronavirus crisis. Its aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions. The Facility is a temporary recovery instrument. It allows the Commission to raise funds to help Member States implement reforms and investments that are in line with the EU’s priorities and that address the challenges identified in country-specific recommendations under the European Semester framework of economic and social policy coordination. To benefit from the support of the Facility, Member States submit their recovery and resilience plans to the European Commission. Each plan sets out the reforms and investments to be implemented by end-2026 and Member States can receive financing up to a previously agreed allocation. RRF has six pillars: green transition; digital transformation; smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; social and territorial cohesion; health, and economic, social and institutional resilience; and policies for the next generation, children and the youth, such as education and skills.
Although the REGULATION (EU) 2021/241 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility does not have explicit mentions about the link between culture and health, these two fields are mentioned as important elements in building resilient societies after the Covid-19 pandemic: ”Reductions in spending on sectors, such as the education sector, cultural sector and creative sector, and on healthcare can prove counterproductive to achieving a swift recovery.” The facility included among its priority areas of intervention: the protection, development and promotion of cultural heritage and cultural services, but also measures for a healthy and well–adapted working environment addressing health risks, including promotion of physical activity or measures encouraging active and healthy ageing. The inclusion of both these fields in the Facility creates a fertile ground for encouraging synergies in practice. According to external research by the Culture Action Europe network and its members, 14 countries out of 26 (53% of the total) had included culture in their National Recovery and Resilience Plans by November 2021.

European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2016 on the role of intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and education in promoting EU fundamental values calls on the Member States and the Commission to prevent extremism, such as xenophobia, racism and all forms of discrimination and marginalisation through community cohesion measures that are able to successfully challenge economic and social inequalities, involving a broad range of actors such as urban planners, social workers, community, churches and religious associations, educators, family support organisations and health professionals, with the objectives of countering extremism, ensuring social inclusion as well as formal and substantial equality, promoting diversity and fostering community cohesion.

The Council of the EU agreed on this strategic policy document în 2015, acknowledging, among other points, that the cultural and creative sectors are a source of both cultural and economic value, but that their broader contribution had not yet been fully recognised, notably in terms of the potential of culture and artistic creativity to trigger innovation in other sectors of the economy, in society as a whole, and for the well-being of individuals. The Conclusions also recognised that the crossovers between the cultural and creative sectors and other sectors (e.g. technology, science and business) can be understood as a process of combining knowledge and skills specific to the cultural and creative sectors together with those of other sectors in order to generate innovative and intelligent solutions for today’s societal challenges.
The policy paper underlined that cultural and creative crossovers to other sectors can result in a wide range of benefits, including: increasing pupils’ attendance and achievements, fostering creative learning and pupils’ well-being, and improving parent engagement by involving artists and creative professionals in school activities; reducing medical expenditure and rates of hospitalisation by improving the prevention of illness and the rehabilitation process of patients through artistic and creative practices; regenerating industrial areas and urban spaces; improving social inclusion and community life through cultural and creative activities and by integrating contemporary architecture, arts and design in public spaces and buildings of cultural and historical value. As a consequence, the Council invited the EU Member States and the Commission to take several measures to address the situation, such as: to encourage widespread dissemination of information about good practices, results, and lessons learnt in cross-sectoral collaboration or to overcome silo thinking in traditional policy areas by better integrating culture and artistic creativity in strategies for economic growth, social policies, urban and regional development, and sustainable development.

The proposed preparatory action shall facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience and success stories in the EU, related to the role of culture for well-being and health. The preparatory action ‘Bottom-up Policy Development for Culture & Well-being in the EU’ aims to:
- facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience and success stories within the European Union (EU) related to the role of culture for well-being and health
- map the most relevant existing practices in this regard, including those that are financed by European programmes
- improve the capacity of local actors to effectively benefit from culture as a means to increase well-being and health, with a special focus on mental health
- carry out small-scale pilot work on the ground concerning means of cooperating across sectors to enhance the well-being of individuals and communities
- establish and explore synergies between existing policies and programmes, as well as past, ongoing and planned actions – in particular those at the EU level – but also local, (macro-)regional and national initiatives.

The European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage reflects the common set-up for heritage-related activities at European level, primarily in EU policies and programmes. It aims to capture and scale-up the success of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, which aimed at encouraging more people to discover and engage with Europe's cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The Framework for Action complements the Council’s Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022.
The framework proposes around 60 actions be implemented by the European Commission in 2019 and 2020, which focus on five main thematic areas: (1) Cultural heritage for an inclusive Europe: participation and access for all (2) Cultural heritage for a sustainable Europe: smart solutions for a cohesive and sustainable future. (3) Cultural heritage for a resilient Europe: safeguarding endangered heritage (4) Cultural heritage for an innovative Europe: mobilising knowledge and research (5) Cultural heritage for stronger global partnerships: reinforcing international cooperation. Under Pillar 4, Cultural Heritage for an Innovative Europe, there is a cluster of actions that aim at fostering social innovation by reinforcing the role of civil society in cultural heritage governance. These will also promote further experimentation and scientific studies on how participating in cultural heritage activities impacts on people’s well-being and health.
The Framework was proposed by the European Commission and is supported by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee. At national level, the European Commission invites Member States to draw up similar frameworks for heritage on a voluntary basis, to complement the Framework for Action.

Fresh Young Artists was devised for young people aged 13-18 years old. Alongside this they run their regular Fresh Little Minds mental health and resilience programme which involves thoughtful, fun and stimulating activities for children aged between 4 and 12. Both interventions are creative, trauma informed educational processes that support children and young people understand their lives, develop an understanding of how and why they are who they are, and learn skills and strategies for developing resilience, cultivating a growth mindset whilst developing and celebrating individual character strengths. Participants work with a professional artist and mental health facilitator to engage with mental health themes in a collaborative creative process, giving young people a high level of personal expression.