WHO project wins the Global Aesthetic Achievement of the Year award

WHO Regional Office for Europe’s project on Cultural Contexts of Health and Well-being (CCH) has been awarded the 2019 Global Aesthetic Achievement of the Year for its work on arts and health, notably the publication of the Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report “What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review” (2019).

Awarded by the Finnish Society for Aesthetics, the prize celebrates important contributions in the spheres of art, city and environmental planning, architecture, media and other fields with aesthetic values. The award is given to a person or community which has, through its acts, products or thoughts, raised discussion about the role of art, beauty, and aesthetic value in society.

“The scope of the report is arguably remarkable, which is the most important reason for naming it the Global Aesthetic Achievement of 2019. The report’s synthesis of the current evidence on the topic is seminal for both research and practices relating to the connection between the arts and well-being on a global scale,” stated Noora-Helena Korpelainen on behalf of the award committee of the Finnish Society for Aesthetics.

Authored by Dr Daisy Fancourt and Ms Saoirse Finn, the report was launched in November 2019 and has already become the most downloaded WHO/Europe publication of 2019. To learn more about the CCH project and to read the report in full, please follow the links below.

The award was announced at a ceremony on 11 December 2019 in Helsinki, Finland.