Two partner organisations were involved in the project. While ISIS had already developed and worked on the idea of ‘Culture on Prescription’ in another project context, the partner SPKV was new to this field. At the same time, SPKV has extensive practical experience in cultural and educational work. The aim of the project was to bring these two areas of expertise together and discuss how the could be implemented in the partner countries. In addition to the important goal of knowledge transfer between the two organisations, the exchange with other actors was also a priority. Interviews with interesting stakeholders and projects in the partner countries focused in particular on the question of how and in what context measures had already been implemented or could be implemented. Based on these interviews and further expert discussions, the aim was to identify common starting points for implementation and to determine who could take on the role of link worker. The objective was not only to look at political structures, but also, and above all, to consider at a practical and low-threshold level how measures can be implemented in local communities by local actors in order to promote inclusion and combat loneliness.
European societies and the European Union are currently facing major socio-political challenges. Society is ageing, and a process of individualisation has been observed for many years. In this process, family and friendship networks are weakening or even breaking down, leading to loneliness among vulnerable groups such as older people, those who are ill or economically disadvantaged. Loneliness has serious consequences, such as mental or physical illness. It reduces the ability of those affected to help themselves and poses a major challenge for social support structures. There is currently a great need to develop countermeasures against loneliness and its negative side effects. One promising concept here is ‘“Social Prescribing’, in which social activities are prescribed against loneliness . In a previous project, the ’Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur’ (Institute for Social Infrastructure) worked on the idea of ’Cultural Prescribing’, focusing on cultural activities. The current project aims to develop this idea further and discuss how such a project could be implemented in the partner countries of Czech Republic and Germany.