Common Grounds #6: What is the role of the city for collective well-being?

Common Grounds #6: What is the role of the city for collective well-being?
17th of June 2026, 15:30-17:30
Foundation We Are, Torenallee 22-04, Eindhoven

What is the role of our cities when it comes to our mental health and well-being? From the daily stress of economic inequalities and the performance-driven society to war tragedies and environmental and economic crises - our mental health and emotional wellbeing are under higher pressure. What seems challenging for ordinary citizens is even more inaccessible to those with disability and challenged intellectual development. The healthcare sector is famously bursting at the seams, with waiting lines becoming unbearably long for some of our most vulnerable fellow citizens. But the challenges of the healthcare sector belong to all of us. A whole movement in the cultural and creative sector has formed around new notions of care, art and design as emancipatory and therapeutic practices, and healing as a collective and systemic matter, rather than an individualistic one.

On June 17th, during Common Grounds #6, we’ll get together with psychologists, system therapists, artistic researchers and social designers to talk about the role of the city and how it can be transformed by new artistic and care practices. From tried and tested collaborations with material outputs presented by designers and societal organisations to the ecosystem or infrastructure that grounds itself in the everyday life of our city. While the systems of healthcare are questioned, how or what can be the methodologies of approaching this topic while looking at the relationalities of its surroundings as well.

A series of 3 conversations will unfold. The afternoon will open with an artistic intervention by Daisy Dawson and Annika Etman. They will show and discuss their collaboration, which took place in the last few months in the NEST program of Foundation We Are. Next, Mila Chorbadzhieva and Tim Hulshof will reflect on the systemic challenges and opportunities of the healthcare system while introducing alternative ways of connecting infrastructures to individuals through their hands-on experience of changing the healthcare system from within and where the most powerful transformation potentials can be found. Finally, we’ll turn our gaze to the artistic and design fields, Debbie Straver, Gjilke Keuning and Manon van Hoeckel will reflect on the power of artistic practices situated within or even interwoven with care practices. The afternoon will be moderated by Femke Hoppenbrouwer.

We think it is time for a more collective approach to mental health and we think that the city of Eindhoven can play a role in that. Join us for this interactive conversation as we try to shape new ideas, ways of thinking and strategies for mental health and wellbeing in our cities!

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