Review and exchange on 1st pilot phase - Transnational workshops in Turku, Finland

The focus of the third partner meeting in Turku was the exchange of experiences on the first recently completed pilot phase of the AoP concept. The project partners presented their various adaptations of the concept and discussed challenges and practical solutions that arose during the test phase, for example with regard to the implementation and comprehensibility of the evaluation concept or dealing with and supporting participants on site.

The results of the exchange of experiences were then used to discuss possible adjustments to the pilot and concept design. Particular attention was paid to the recruitment process, the needs of the target groups and the organisation, implementation and facilitation of the art activities.

Another focus on Day 1 was the exchange of experiences on the application of the evaluation concept, with initial preliminary evaluation results allowing conclusions to be drawn on the acceptance and benefits of the AoP program as well as the user-friendliness of the evaluation design. Critical aspects and aspects requiring improvement were then discussed and worked on in small groups in order to adjust the evaluation concept in the second pilot phase.

On the second day of the project meeting, interim results, empirical values and suggestions for adaptation were incorporated into an intensive working phase on the Online Practitioners’ Guide (PG). This PG forms the core of the project, in which the knowledge gained from the development and piloting phases as well as from the scientific exchange with experts outside the project flows into a practical guide for AoP programmes. The guide is intended as an aid and knowledge compendium to help coordinators/link workers, facilitators and decision-makers in the organisation and implementation of their own AoP programme – but also to promote the long-term integration of such social prescribing programmes into national health systems on the basis of possible financing options. The Online Practitioners’ Guide will be tested and further adapted by the relevant user groups in the second and third pilot phases of the project before it is made available to the general public.

A subsequent session was also dedicated to long-term integration into existing healthcare systems and cooperation with the cultural sector. With the aim of providing decision-makers with recommendations for national AoP support programs, good practices and strategies for accessing important communication channels and networks were discussed and exchanged.

Another session was dedicated to the preparation of the so-called One-on-One Twinning: a planned transfer activity in the later course of the project, in which project partners offer advice and support for interested partner cities to implement their own AoP program.

@AoP Dance workshop, Turku 2024

A highlight of the supporting programme was a workshop on ‘bodily interaction and communication’, in which the project partners were able to try out for themselves how dance, movement and interaction can be used to strengthen well-being. The workshop was led by Annastiina Love (Master of Culture and Arts) and Anniina Ukkonen (Bachelor of Culture and Arts), who work as dance ambassadors and cultural wellbeing workers in Turku.

@AoP – Dance Ambassadors Annastiina Love & Anniina Ukkonen

The project meeting has been co-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Interreg Program 2021 – 2027 in the frame of the “Arts on Prescription in the Baltic Sea Region” project.

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