The EU strategic publication “Culture and Health – Time to Act” has highlighted Healing Nature as an example of good practices of research on the positive impacts for health and well-being through the provision of cultural and creative participation. This key policy document, developed within the CultureForHealth initiative, highlights the role of culture and art in promoting health and well-being across Europe.
Healing Nature is an animation based research project exploring the potential for animated imagery to provide a calming and distracting element to children's hospital waiting spaces in order to reduce patient anxiety. The goal is to transform sterile hospital spaces into inspiring environments that support healing by combining stylized images of nature, and handcrafted techniques with contemporary technologies, particularly augmented reality (AR) in a sustainable SCREENless format. The project is a collaboration between Universidade Lusófona, the New Bulgarian University and the Croatian Association of Fine Artists.
Natalie Woolf (CICANT) is the leading researcher and Art Director for the Lisbon team, working alongside Pedro Serrazina, the Animation Director and researcher, and with psychology partners Ana Beato, Ana Loureiro and Isabel Santos from HEI-Lab.