Bevilling
University of Southern Denmark part of new EU Horizon project on the role of arts and culture in health and well-being
Arts and culture hold significant potential for promoting mental health, well-being and social connectedness across Europe – yet they are still far from being used systematically. A new European project aims to help change that.
The project European Culture and Health Hub (ECHH 2026-2029) has just received two million euros from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. Its aim is to strengthen the use of arts and culture as an integrated part of health and welfare initiatives across Europe.
The background is a growing need: Europe is facing increasing challenges related to poor mental health, loneliness and social inequality in health. At the same time, research shows that participation in arts and cultural life can support well-being, strengthen communities and contribute to a better quality of life.
Even so, knowledge and experience in this field are currently scattered, and common frameworks and stronger collaboration between sectors are needed.
SDU’s contribution to the European collaboration
SDU and Denmark are represented in the project by Professor Anna Paldam Folker and Postdoc Mette Marie Kristensen from the National Institute of Public Health at SDU. They are helping to strengthen the knowledge base on which the project builds, and to gather and systematise existing research and experience.
A key task is the development of an evidence gap map, which will provide an overview of what we know about arts, culture and health – and where knowledge is still lacking. This work is being carried out in collaboration with Professor Daisy Fancourt, UNESCO Chair in Arts and Health and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. The mapping will make it easier for both practitioners and decision-makers to work in a more targeted and evidence-based way.
Anna Paldam Folker and Mette Marie Kristensen are also contributing to competence development across the health, social and cultural sectors, so that more actors gain the necessary skills to use arts and culture in practice. They already have considerable experience in this area through the competence development course Arts and culture for health and well-being, which will next be offered at the National Institute of Public Health, SDU, in spring 2027.
Alongside the research project, SDU RIO, represented by Project Manager Helle Elisabeth Lyngborg, is contributing to quality assurance for the overall international project. SDU RIO is thereby helping to ensure that the project’s activities and results meet high academic and administrative standards.
From scattered knowledge to shared solutions
The project brings together researchers, organisations and authorities from 13 European countries with the aim of creating a stronger and more coherent field. The project is led by the University of Turku in Finland.
A key element is the establishment of a shared European platform – European Culture and Health Hub (ECHub). The platform will serve as a meeting place where researchers, practitioners and decision-makers can share knowledge, develop collaborations and find tools for working with arts and culture in health and welfare initiatives.
At the same time, the project will work to identify, test and further develop promising initiatives so that they can be more widely disseminated and used in different contexts across Europe.
A step towards broader understandings of health
With this project, an important step is being taken towards a broader and more holistic understanding of health, in which cultural and social dimensions also have a clearer place.
Mød forskeren
Anna Paldam Folker er professor og forskningsleder ved Statens Institut for Folkesundhed, SDU. Hendes forskning fokuserer på mental sundhed, trivsel og menneskers oplevelse af sundhed. Hun undersøger blandt andet, hvordan kulturelle og sociale forhold påvirker sundhed, og hvordan indsatser inden for kunst, kultur og digitale løsninger kan understøtte mental trivsel.
Mød forskeren
Mette Marie Kristensen er antropolog og postdoc ved Statens Institut for Folkesundhed, SDU. Hendes forskning fokuserer på, hvordan kunst og kultur kan bruges til at fremme sundhed og trivsel. Med afsæt i sundheds-, social- og humanvidenskabelige perspektiver undersøger hun, hvordan kulturelle aktiviteter kan bidrage til menneskers livskvalitet, fællesskaber og oplevelse af sundhed.