Call for Applications: Youth, Mental Health and Culture

Deadline: 13-Jul-22

The Voices of Culture is seeking applications for representatives of the cultural and creative sectors and other sectors (professional organisations, cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, European networks, foundations, private organisations, etc.) with relevant expertise on the topic Youth, Mental Health and Culture, who would like to contribute to discussions with the European Commission.

The purpose of this Voices of Culture cycle is to generate project ideas and policy recommendations for the cultural and creative sectors2 and decision-makers. The output from the series of Brainstorming sessions and Dialogue meeting with the European Commission will be a catalogue of project ideas and policy recommendations authored by the participants.

Areas of Discussion

Against this backdrop, the Brainstorming meeting is framed around three main areas of discussion:

• Evidence on the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to improving the mental health and well-being of young people, at national and international level. 
  • Key Questions
    • What is the international evidence available that culture contributes to better mental health for young people? In what ways? What are the key factors in cultural projects and programmes that most effectively promote the mental health and wellbeing of young people and help in preventing, treating, and managing mental issues, disorders, and conditions?
• Synergies with other policy fields (health, education, social welfare, etc.) to maximize results.
  • Key Questions
    • What are the most significant cases of stable and successful cooperation of the cultural and creative sectors with the other relevant sectors, e.g.: Health, Education, Social Welfare, Youth policies, etc. in activities and programmes that address the mental health of young people?
• Examples of interventions where there is robust evidence of successful outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged young people. Conditions for success of such interventions.
  • Key Questions
    • What target groups (e.g.: adolescents, young adults, girls, young people with disorders or conditions, groups with special needs, etc.) are mostly in need of promotion, prevention, treatment, and management-oriented cultural and creative projects? For whom those interventions are proved to be most effective?
    • What kind of local, regional, national, and EU institutional support is likely to be most effective and needed (e.g.: targeted programs and funding, technical support and assistance, communication campaigns and dissemination, research, training, etc.)?

When it will happen?

• The Brainstorming meeting for the topic will take place at the Goethe-Institut Brussels on the 04.10.2022 – 05.10.2022.
• The Dialogue meeting for this topic will take place at the Goethe-Institut Brussels on the 08.12.2022.

Eligibility Criteria

Organisations applying must be based in one of the 27 EU Member States.

Criteria

The participants of the session will be selected according to the following criteria:

• Thematic expertise – organisations with relevant expertise on the theme of the meeting, including those able to contribute empirical evidence to support the discussions;
• Large multiplying effects – organisations representing a large number of stakeholders and different European countries and/or able to disseminate the outputs widely;
• Geographical balance – umbrella organisations representing different national or European civil society bodies or stakeholders as well as organisations based in countries from all corners of the EU;
• Sectoral balance – organisations representing a wide range of cultural and creative disciplines as well as different types of organisations, as appropriate;
• Gender balance – they will try to ensure that a roughly equal number of men and women are present, as appropriate.

For more information, visit https://voicesofculture.eu/2022/06/17/call-for-applications-the-role-of-cultural-and-creactive-sectors-in-improving-mental-health-of-the-youth/