Creating Wellbeing through Archaeological Activities: A Design Journey

During the twelfth seminar organised by My Experience Molise Project, Francesco Ripanti (Trinity College Dublin) presented a talk intitled "Creating Wellbeing through Archaeological Activities: A Design Journey". 
Archaeology is not just about excavating structures and studying ancient materials. Today, archaeology also aims to address societal issues by actively engaging communities through a range of programmes. Among these are Archaeology-Based Wellbeing Interventions (AWIs), which explore how engagement with the past can make a difference to individual wellbeing, producing outcomes such as socialisation, happiness and self-esteem. AWIs are inherently multidisciplinary and require the involvement of partners from both the heritage and health sectors. The design phase is therefore key. The seminar explored how creativity is applied to the design of AWIs and the impact of different activities on the wellbeing of participants. Francesco Ripanti presented the most successful approaches and target groups across Europe, using the ’Linking community archaeology and wellbeing in the Mediterranean’ (LOGGIA) project as a main case study. Funded by the European Union as a Marie Skodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, LOGGIA focuses on engaging local communities and vulnerable groups through creative activities with a focus on the historic landscape.