European Culture and Health Hub
Ongoing project
A Collaborative Platform Enhancing Arts, Culture and Health Policies, Practice and Research
The European Culture and Health Hub (ECHH) fosters policy dialogue, knowledge exchange, and cross-sectoral cooperation at the intersection of arts, culture, health, and wellbeing. Bringing together professionals, researchers, policymakers, patient organisations, and citizens, the Hub creates a shared space for collaboration, learning, and innovation across Europe.
What we do
ECHH focuses on:
- Strengthening the evidence base underpinning culture and health policy and practice via producing three broad online evidence gap maps
- Fostering the implementation, adaptation and replication of best practices in cross-sectoral culture and health approaches via evaluations and training
- Increasing awareness of the impacts of arts and culture on health, wellbeing and social inclusion among policymakers and practitioners across sectors at European, national, regional and local levels by implementing a wide reach awareness raising campaign, and targeted awareness raising sessions
- Fostering policy discussions, knowledge exchange and cross-sectoral cooperation among policymakers, professionals and academics across culture, health, social care, humanitarian, youth and education sectors through a dedicated interdisciplinary, interactive, hybrid platform European Culture and Health Hub
- Equipping policymakers with recommendations and practical guidelines to implement sustainable cross-sectoral policies and programmes in the field of culture and health.
The European Culture and Health Hub
At the heart of the initiative is the European Culture and Health Hub (ECHub), a collaborative platform connecting research, policy, and practice. By strengthening the evidence base for culture and health, the project aims to reshape how Europe approaches wellbeing and care, embedding culture more deeply within public health and primary care.
A European collaboration
The project is coordinated by Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and brings together a consortium of 15 organisations from 13 European countries. Between June 2026 and May 2029, the Hub will create opportunities for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration among stakeholders across Europe.
The initiative is funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe Support and Coordination Actions programme.
Culture Action Europe’s role
Culture Action Europe leads the work on policy recommendations and advocacy, building on the outcomes of the CultureForHealth project, the EU Member States report on “Culture and Health: Time to Act”, the WHO 2019 report, and the growing body of research and policy developments in this field.
CAE also connects the Hub with complementary initiatives, including the “Culture and Health Platform, which provides financial support to artists working in this field, and the CARE- Culture for Mental Health project that aims to test and scale up culture and health initiatives in youth mental health, arts on prescription and work –related well-being. Through its extensive membership network and ongoing advocacy at the EU level, CAE will help to ensure that the project’s outcomes contribute to lasting policy change and wider impact.
Join the ECHH Stakeholder Platform
Interested in becoming part of the European Culture and Health Hub community?
Join our stakeholder platform to receive project updates, opportunities to participate, and information about upcoming activities.
Acknowledgement of EU funding
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Grant Agreement No 101286497.
