European Culture and Health Hub brings arts into Europe’s health agenda
BRUSSELS, 23 June 2026 - Europe is facing growing pressures on mental health and wellbeing, alongside rising levels of loneliness, social isolation, and the challenges of an ageing population. While these issues are widely recognised, the role of arts and culture in addressing them remains largely underused in mainstream health policy.
Research from the World Health Organization for Europe suggests that engaging with the arts can support psychological wellbeing and strengthen community resilience by helping people reconnect with each other and the places they live. Participation in cultural activities has also been linked to improved mental health, stronger social cohesion, and more resilient communities.
A strong policy signal for change came with the European Commission’s 2025 report, Culture and Health: Time to Act, which calls on the EU and Member States to strengthen cooperation between the culture, health and social sectors. The report recognises cultural participation as a positive health behaviour and highlights its contribution to health promotion, disease prevention, mental health, social inclusion and community resilience.
The European Culture and Health Hub (ECHH 2026-2029) is a new, ambitious Horizon Europe initiative that aims to bring these ideas more directly into policy and practice. Coordinated by Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland), it brings together researchers, cultural organisations, policymakers, and health professionals from 15 organisations across 13 European countries to explore how engagement with the arts and culture can contribute to population health and wellbeing.
Among those involved is Professor Daisy Fancourt, UNESCO Chair in Arts and Health and Director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health, alongside leading European researchers working in the field.
“Arts engagement is increasingly recognised as a health-promoting behaviour, and there are some fantastic programmes happening across the European region putting the evidence base into practice. ECHH is poised to catalyse the field by synthesising and advancing the evidence base and translating the evidence into new programmes and policy.”
- Professor Daisy Fancourt
UNESCO Chair in Arts and Health and Director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health
A European hub to accelerate change
At the centre of the initiative is the European Culture and Health Hub (ECHub), a collaborative platform designed to connect research, policy, and practice while strengthening the evidence base for culture and health. The project aims to shift how Europe thinks about wellbeing and care by embedding culture more deeply in public health approaches.
The ECHub is being developed in collaboration with policymakers, practitioners, researchers and local communities, ensuring that its outputs reflect real-world needs.
"ECHH aims to build bridges between policymakers and practitioners across the culture, health, social care, humanitarian, youth and education sectors. Through ECHub, it provides a shared space for learning, capacity building, collaboration and policy development, helping to translate knowledge into concrete action and more effective policies at European, national, regional and local levels."
- Liisa Laitinen
ECHH Project Manager at Turku University of Applied Sciences
Stakeholder feedback will directly shape the development of the ECHub, including tools that map where evidence is strong and where gaps remain, alongside policy guidance at EU, national, regional, and local levels.
Alongside this, the ECHH initiative will test, evaluate, and scale culture-and-health interventions across multiple European settings, supporting regional capacity-building initiatives to help practitioners and organisations implement evidence-based approaches.
A strong European partnership
Launching in June 2026, the European Culture and Health Hub (ECHH) is a €2 million Horizon Europe initiative, coordinated by the Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The project will run for three years (2026–2029) and brings together 20 organisations, including 15 project partners and 5 associated partners, representing higher education institutions, research centres, cultural organisations, NGOs, and health networks across Europe.
The project partners are:
- Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland),
- University College London (United Kingdom)
- The Center for Primary Health Care Research Region Skåne (Sweden),
- Culture Action Europe (Belgium),
- EuroHealthNet (Belgium),
- University of Porto (Portugal),
- Cultural Welfare Center ETS (Italy)
- Cultura en Vena (Spain)
- Nord University (Norway)
- Arts in Health Netherlands (Netherlands)
- Latvian Academy of Culture (Latvia)
- Mozarteum University Salzburg (Austria)
- Cluj Cultural Centre (Romania)
- University of Southern Denmark (Denmark)
- Hope UK (United Kingdom)
This project is additionally supported by associated partners contributing international expertise, policy engagement, and cross-sector collaboration: Arts + Health Ireland / Réalta (Ireland), Secretariat of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (Latvia), United Cities and Local Governments (Spain), UNESCO (France), and the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (Sweden).
More information
For general enquiries, please contact Project Coordinator, Liisa Laitinen at: Liisa.laitinen@turkuamk.fi or for EuroHealthNet related queries, please contact Lina Papartytė at: l.papartyte@eurohealthnet.eu
Interested in learning more about this initiative? Follow the Hub’s journey, sign up for ECHH updates by clicking the button below.
