ADVANCE's Annual Meeting 2024
The ADVANCE consortium gathered for the second time on June 20-21, 2024, setting the stage for mental health innovation at the picturesque University of Verona in Italy.
The meeting kicked off with a visit to Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo, where attendees explored the integration of art into mental health promotion. This tour was made possible through the generosity of the team of Vanessa Carlon, Director of Piazza Maffei Casa Museo, and the art and well-being research project led by Michela Nosè (UNIVR) and Corrado Barbui (UNIVR) through the WHO Centre for Mental Health Research at the University of Verona.
Piazza Maffei Casa Museo’s art historian tours members of the ADVANCE consortium, relating the importance of art for well-being.
In photo (from left to right): Cláudia de Freitas (ISPUP), Wietse Anton Tol (UCPH), Henrik Wasmus (CIMH), Riccardo Serra (UNIVR), Lorenzo Tarsitani (UNIVR), Federico Tedeschi (UNIVR), Michela Nosè (UNIVR), Vanessa Carlon (Palazzo Maffei), Giullia (Palazzo Maffei), Corrado Barbui (UNIVR), Maria Marti Castaner (UCPH) Joyce Anne Quinto (UCPH), Morten Nørulf (UCPH), Raquel Mara Teixeira (ISPUP), Leonie Fleck (CIMH), Maija Satamo (UTU), Kenneth Carswell (WHO), Maritta Välimäki (UTU), Marianna Purgato (UNIVR).
During the meeting, the consortium recapped its many achievements and progress since last year. This includes the rigorous co-creation activities with its Society Advisory Groups, and the result of the series of interdisciplinary meetings centered around "vulnerability" and what it means for the different disciplines within the project.
Corrado Barbui, University of Verona’s PI for ADVANCE and WP4 lead, opens the annual meeting as host of this year’s gathering
WP1 (Cláudia de Freitas (ISPUP); Liuska Sanna (MHE); Raquel Mara Teixeira (ISPUP)) presents a synthesis of ADVANCE’s co-creation activities for the past year.
Andrea Bidoli presents the synthesis of WP7 interdisciplinary meetings, packaged into a Socratic Dialogue guide (now submitted to the EU).
Two guest speakers also graced the consortium with inspirational stories and insights from working with refugees and asylum seekers in Italy, and on ending stigma and discrimination in collaboration with people with lived experience.
Gianni Tomelleri, coordinator of the asylum seekers and refugees service of Caritas Verona, shared his experiences and insights on how Verona works to host, protect, and promote integration of refugees and asylum seekers into society.
Dristy Gurung, PhD candidate at KCL; Project Manager at TPO Nepal; and a member of ADVANCE’s Scientific Advisory Board, talked about ending stigma and discrimination, understanding ‘what matters most’, and collaborating with people with lived experience.
ADVANCE consortium members pose for a group photo in the historic building of University Pole Santa Marta (UNIVR).
The meeting concluded with a forward-looking session, setting the stage for the next phases of the project. The consortium will reconvene for its next annual meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania on June 19-20, 2025, continuing its commitment to developing scalable, effective interventions for mental health across Europe.