The Ministry of Culture, through the Directorate of Performing Arts and Cinema, has successfully completed the first phase of the three-month pilot project “Pilot Actions for Cultural Prescription” (MIS TA 5203080), within the framework of the “Next Generation EU” National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0,” Axis 4.6 “Culture and Well-being: Art as Prescription Therapy (“art on prescription”)”.

During this quarter, art activities were carried out, including experiential workshops and ticket set interventions, in all fields of culture – theater, visual arts, music, cinema, dance, and literature.

Participants joined the program through referrals from mental health professionals and institutions throughout the country, in accordance with the established criteria, participating in homogeneous groups for each activity. The steady attendance, positive response, and high-quality implementation of the activities confirmed the positive impact of cultural interventions on the mental well-being of the beneficiaries. At the same time, the research team of the University Research Institute of Mental Health continued to collect and process data, contributing to the systematic evaluation and improvement of the methodology for implementing Cultural Prescription.

The second pilot phase continues with the supervised bodies of the Ministry of Culture that participated in the first pilot phase, namely the State Theater of Northern Greece, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall Organization, the Metropolitan Organization of Visual Arts Museums of Thessaloniki (MOMus), the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery – Alexander Soutsos Museum, the Athens Concert Hall Organization, the State School of Dance, and. The second pilot phase also included new organizations participating for the first time: the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, the Olympic Museum, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Drama Short Film Festival Cultural Organization, the Ioannina Municipal Regional Theater, the Olympia Festival, the Nikos and Dolly Goulandris Foundation – Museum of Cycladic Art, the Pavlos and Alexandra Kanellopoulos Museum, the Galilee Palliative Care Unit, the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, and the Odeion Athens Music and Drama Association – 1871.

With the completion of the first quarter of the second pilot phase, the program enters its second implementation period (second quarter), maintaining its basic objective: To connect art and culture with the promotion of mental health, the strengthening of social cohesion, and the expansion of citizens’ access to quality cultural experiences.