Blog post written by Joy Vamvakari (East Scotland AHECRN Representative)
On Tuesday 27th of February, the Arts Health ECRN held their first LINK event in Edinburgh, an opportunity to meet and chat to like-minded people interested in all aspects of Arts and Health.
The evening began at 5:30. Despite the snow blizzard outside, existing and future members of the Network arrived and enjoyed a drink in the warm pub while getting to know each other. Breaking into smaller discussion groups, everyone introduced themselves and discussed research interests, moving around to make sure that everyone met each other. Joy Vamvakari (East Scotland rep) and Katey Warran (Network coordinator) briefly introduced the Network, its development and aims. Then all members continued discussing topics of interest, such as the application of Arts Health research in practice and in society, and career development for Arts Health researchers, while some members also brought along examples of their work, which were passed around and discussed.
This event was a great opportunity to bring together people interested in the Network who come from a wide range of disciplines and experiences; from Edinburgh and surrounding areas, researchers, students and practitioners, with backgrounds ranging from film, artificial intelligence and robotics, to divinity and social science. The informal evening ended in a friendly atmosphere, with participants highlighting how useful they found the gathering, to meet new people and discuss their ideas, as well as plans to further engage with the Network.
This was the first LINK Arts Health ECRN event in East Scotland, but there is more to come! There are plans for further events in Scotland so do stay in touch. Make sure to visit our website so that you can be the first to know when events are announced and follow us on Twitter for exciting Arts Health news and events.
Thank you Joy for writing such an insightful blog post and sharing some of your images from the event. If you would be interested in writing a blog post about an AHECRN event please get in touch with Robyn (Blog editor).