‘Handle with Care | Culture for Social Well-being’ is the 2023 edition of Culture Action Europe’s Beyond the Obvious gathering. This international get-together welcomes practitioners, organisations and institutions, policymakers, thinkers, researchers, activists and artivists from the cultural, social and health sectors working on topics related to care, well-being, health and culture. Handle with Care | Culture for Social Well-being will take place in Elefsina, Greece from 7-10 June 2023. It is co-organised by Culture Action Europe, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, the CultureForHealth project, and is co-financed by the European Union.
The multitude of crises our societies are facing today, including the climate and social injustice, wars, pandemic, economic and political upheavals in and beyond Europe, requires an urgent cultural response: a response rooted in care for the planet and communities, care for each other. To navigate these uncertainties, we are in search of a compass, a sense of direction towards a sustainable, democratic, caring future. The Handle with Care | Culture for Social Well-being gathering aims to collectively explore the significance of care as an ethical and political obligation for our societies and the role culture and cultural professionals can play in this. It will specifically discuss the evidence on the role of culture in improving health and well-being. How can culture and participation in the cultural life of communities nourish a sense of social and individual well-being?
The 2023 edition of the Beyond the Obvious gathering will also feature the Handle with Care Agora. It is an informal marketplace showcasing local and international/European projects working with the topics of care, community and individual well-being, health, mental health and culture. The aim of the Agora is to bring different perspectives from arts, heritage, human rights, health, research, politics, activism etc. and mix initiatives from Greece with similar projects coming from all over Europe and beyond to create an open space for networking and peer learning.
30 selected projects will present their initiatives during the gathering, will have free access to the conference and will be awarded a bursary of 300 euros to support their participation in the Handle with Care | Culture for Social Well-being gathering.
