Building Arts Capacity for Health (BACH)

Introduction

BACH is a European Union-funded capacity-building project that aims to strengthen the arts and health sector in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. It is being led by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, in partnership with WHO Country Offices, experts and institutions from the health and culture sectors of project countries, as well as the Jameel Arts and Health Lab. 

BACH is a subproject of the “Health Resilience in the Eastern Partnership” Programme, which aims to support resilient and interconnected health systems in Eastern Partnership countries, strengthening their capacities to handle health emergencies and core health challenges. The programme is funded by the EU Commission’s Directorate General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighborhood. 

Scope 

The BACH project entails three major activities, consisting of: 

1. conducting an asset mapping of projects and institutions related to the culture and health landscape in each project country; 
2. organizing workshops with key stakeholders from each project country to a)  build capacity around culture and health practices, research and evaluations, and b) gain insights into local needs, priorities and opportunities for projects; 
3. initiating the implementation of culture and health pilot projects in each country, in collaboration with local partners. 

Timeline: 

• The project is set to run from October 2024 - April 2027. The first year is dedicated to asset mapping and workshops, and the remaining year and a half to implementing projects. 
• Asset mapping was conducted between October 2024 - July 2025. Four asset map reports are being prepared for publication in 2026. 
• Capacity-building workshops were held in November and December 2025. 
• January 2026 - April 2027 is dedicated to selecting, designing, implementing and evaluating culture and health projects in each country. 

Insights and Deliverables

The project will produce the following deliverables:

• A set of reports based on the asset mapping conducted in each project country, developed in collaboration with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab; 
• Arts and health training materials for local capacity building workshops, developed in collaboration with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab;
• One or more publications in peer-reviewed journals surrounding the asset map methodology, in-country project evaluations, and any other insights gained during the process of this project  
• A series of arts and health capacity-building workshops for select stakeholders from all project countries, delivered in collaboration with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab; 
• Researchers from each project country participating in an arts and health research intensive
• One arts and health project designed and implemented in each country
• Contributing to the overall advancement of the arts and health sector in each country. 

BACH is positioned to gain insights in several areas including: 

• How to design and implement rapid arts and health asset mapping activities in different country contexts;
• How to effectively deliver arts and health trainings and translate resources for different cultural environments;
• How to build viable intersectorial partnerships for arts and health activities between and within countries; 
• How to identify, support, and sustain arts and health pilot projects in different national and cultural contexts. 

Project Team

The design and implementation of this project is being led by Nils Fietje (Technical Office, WHO Regional Office for Europe) and Ameer Shaheed (Consultant, WHO Regional Office for Europe / Jameel Arts & Health Lab). The project team includes colleagues from WHO Country Offices in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as international and local arts and health consultants. Projects selected for implementation will involve additional local partners that remain to be determined.  Further details will be shared as the project evolves, and be further elaborated upon in webpages dedicated to country-specific projects. 

Funding and Support

This project is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate for Enlargement and Eastern Neighborhood (DG ENEST), and implemented by the WHO Regional Office for Europe with support from the Jameel Arts and Health Lab.