NEMO – the Network of European Museum Organisations – is offering its next free Webinar “Museums, Health and Well Being” on 16 June 2017 at 15.00h (CET). The facilitator Mark O’Neill, former director of Policy & Research for Glasgow Life, will discuss the role of museums in new approaches to public health.

Many museum staff intuitively believe 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. This 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.

Registration for the Webinar is open until 13 June 2017.