Cavan Arts leads on EU ‘CultureAndHealth’ Project

Cavan County Council Arts Office has secured €155,000 in funding to deliver a new EU culture, health, and wellbeing programme in partnership with 14 organisations from 13 countries.

The ‘CultureAndHealth’ platform will see the 15 partner organisations from across Europe harness the proven benefits of artistic and cultural interventions to enhance mental health, prevent illnesses, and build resilience.

Cavan Arts will be Ireland’s representative on the project, with partners also representing Finland, Austria, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy, Romania, Latvia, Belgium, and Poland.

The initiative responds to pressing gaps in Europe, including limited integration of culture into health and social policies, a lack of professional support and networks for artists working in interprofessional settings, and the need for sustainable funding and fair working conditions for cultural practitioners.

The project will provide grant support for artists to implement projects or participate in international residencies, capacity building and training with over 1,500 live and 800 online training opportunities, digital resources, and showcasing events including four international conferences.

Cavan County Council’s Arts and Health Manager, Elisha McCaffrey, said the project was an excellent opportunity for arts practitioners in County Cavan – “Cavan Arts has secured €155,000 in funding, with an additional €38,750 provided by Cavan County Council, to deliver the ‘CultureAndHealth’ programme over the next four years, offering local arts practitioners the opportunity to upskill critical areas such as digital skills, training for evaluation, showcasing & digital story making, live-online artist training, exchange programmes, networking and sharing of good practices, national showcase events and conferences, etc.

“Through engaging with our 14 partner organisations on this programme, Cavan Arts will gather learnings from across the EU, giving Cavan arts practitioners access to international best practice in the area of arts, health, and wellbeing”.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr TP O’Reilly said, “I’d like to congratulate the team at Cavan Arts for their efforts in putting Cavan at the forefront of culture and wellbeing initiatives in Europe. Over 85 million EU citizens are affected by mental health issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, with anxiety, depression, loneliness and social isolation rife in our communities. Initiatives such as this will help explore creative solutions to these issues, and I look forward to following the progress of this exciting programme over the next four years”.

For more information, visit cavanarts.ie