Creative Connects: ProSocial Workshops addressing loneliness within undergraduate students at LCC, University of the Arts, London
Beverley Carruthers, London College of Communication, University of the Arts, United Kingdom; John Martin, Artistic Director of Pan Intercultural Arts, London, United Kingdom; Neil Armstrong, Institute of Social & Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University, United Kingdom 
Break out Session 1: Thursday 24 November 14:30 - 16:00 (Helsinki Time)

Responding to the alarming rise of mental health concerns in higher education environments, the ‘Creative Connects’ team developed prosocial workshops prioritising playfulness, a ‘purposeless activity that provides enjoyment and a suspension of self-consciousness and sense of time’. After running the workshops with students, the team looks to present their findings and analysis to audiences interested in working with art for social change and addressing loneliness and isolation.

Tools for Agency and Cooperation (Mental Health and Arts)
Nataša Antulov + Sanja Bojanic, Academy of Applied Arts, Rijeka, Croatia 
Break out Session 1: Thursday 24 November 14:30 - 16:00 (Helsinki Time)

During their studies, artists confront challenges concerning boundaries of intimacy in their work and creating emotional personal competencies, now only heightened by the pandemic. The presenters aim to develop a curriculum with micro-qualifications for learning various techniques of overcoming discomfort and burnout. The focus is on strengthening practical-orientational skills for confronting challenges, strengthening resilience, and overcoming unjust practices in work that can affect homeostasis.

To be or not to be active: Taking arms against sedentarism with the co-created communication campaign LusofonAtiva
Celia Quico, Anastasiya Maksymchuk Lkhagvadulam, Purev-Ochir + Possidonio Cachapa, Lusófona University, Portugal 
Break out Session 3: Friday 25 November 9:00 - 11:00 (Helsinki Time)

To combat sedentary behaviour, particularly in the troubled times of the COVID-19 pandemic, is no easy task, both individually and collectively. Staying at home has been mandatory for days and weeks in a row, ever since early 2020, therefore make it much more difficult to engage in any kind of physical activity. Recognising and addressing the issues of sedentarism, as well as food habits, sleep habits, mental health, and general well-being, a multidisciplinary team of professors and students at Lusófona University took a stand against sedentary behaviour, hopefully inspiring fellow colleagues and other staff members to join the cause. Under development since early 2021, the research project LusofonAtiva aims to monitor and to promote active and healthy lifestyles in students, faculty, and other staff of the Lusófona University campus in Lisbon.

From Hidden to Shared Vulnerability
Liisa Jaakonaho + Eeva Anttila + Pauliina Laukkanen, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland 
Break out Session 4: Friday 25 November 11:30 - 12:30 (Helsinki Time)

This presentation underlines the importance of acknowledging vulnerability in the context of tertiary arts education. The context for our presentation that will take a workshop format is an Erasmus+ strategic partnership entitled Pedagogy of Imaginative Dialogues (PIMDI). PIMDI focuses on taking the (radical) differences between cultural values seriously and allowing students to get a better insight in the process of valuing as such, highlighting its historical and social conditions. This workshop draws from our experiences within PIMDI and elsewhere in academia and also, from the perspectives of our research interests. We want to emphasize that fostering working cultures where people are safe to share, rather than hide, their vulnerability, is key in supporting collective well-being, as well as students’ personal growth as artists.