Free NEMO Webinar: "Museums, Health and Well Being"

  NEMO (the Network of European Museum Organisations) is offering its next free Webinar, entitled "Museums, Health and Well Being" on 16 June 2017 at 15.00 (CET). It will be facilitated by Mark O'Neill, former Director of Policy & Research for Glasgow Life, who will discuss the role of museums in new approaches to public health. Many museum staff intuitively believe that museums make a positive contribution to people's health and well being, and are increasingly developing activities and projects which seek to enhance their impact. The webinar aims to look beyond individual projects and to make a strategic assessment of the potential contribution of museums to human well being. It will review the evidence for the health benefits of museum visiting, in the context of a broad history of how museums have related to public health in the past 150 years. Some public health academics argue that their field needs to enter a new phase in order to address the diseases of modernity (obesity, mental ill-health, loneliness). This new phase will require a more holistic approach based on fostering social trust and inclusive narratives which enhance people's sense of leading meaningful lives. The webinar will conclude with an assessment of the potential of museums to contribute to this emerging approach to public health. Further to his work at Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers arts, museums, libraries and sports services for the City of Glasgow, Mark O'Neill also served as Head of Glasgow Museums from 1998 to 2009. He is particularly interested in the social purposes of cultural institutions, in people's motivations to take part in cultural activities and in the health benefits of cultural participation. With this session on "Museums, Health and Well Being", NEMO continues its successful series of free webinars. It is organised in cooperation with the Media Integration and Communication Centre (MICC) and New Media for Cultural Heritage (NEMECH), both part of the University of Florence. Registration for the seminar is open until 13 June. For additional information and registration, please visit http://www.ne-mo.org/news/article/nc/1/browse/1/nemo/free-nemo-webinar-museums-health-and-well-being-on-16-june-2017/376.html