27 March 2024 – As part of the project Creative Work-life Balance – BalanCed, co-funded by the Norway Grants, a final conference entitled “With creativity to a balanced life” was held yesterday in Ljubljana.
The event was attended by representatives of ministries, public and private sector employees and experts from the culture, health, social, education and business fields. A discussion developed among participants on the importance of culture in work-life balance, good practices on new approaches and strategies for using culture and creativity in promoting work-life balance.
The opening speech was given by Jadranka Plut, Head of the Financial Mechanisms Sector at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development, who pointed out that projects of this kind are an instrument for cooperation at the national, regional, and local levels. She further explained, “Even during the Pandemic, creative and cultural content kept us company, helping us to maintain stable mental health on one hand, and community on the other. Studies have shown that people who engaged in artistic activities coped better with stress and depression. Art is not only a therapeutic tool for the individual but a power that brings people together. Through art, we can build bridges between genders or generations, and build an inclusive society.”
Anja Cerkvenik, Principal of the Centre for the Communication, the Hearing and the Speech Portorož, also gave a speech, introducing the event by saying that creativity can contribute to a harmonious life if it is channelled in the right way. She emphasised that “through creative activities, we can better understand and express feelings, find new paths and solutions and overcome obstacles. The project recognised the opportunity to offer the chance to get enthusiastic, to create with clay and other handicraft skills, and to support employees and their families to live more harmonious and peaceful lives. Thank you to all the participants in the project’s activities, the collaborators and the project partners who showed through the creative process how creativity can transform our lives, contributing to better harmony and coherence, a sense of balance and fulfilment.”
Sandra Končan, Assistant from the Science and Research Centre Koper, presented the findings of the in-depth interviews conducted with 27 participants of the courses at the Creative Centre. The interviewees mostly pointed out similar feelings they experienced while working with clay: relaxation, concentration, acceptance of the situation, satisfaction, pride, and some even felt inner peace. The results of the survey showed that the workshops enabled live social interaction, which is lacking nowadays due to the rise of interaction on social networks. More than half of the interviewees said that attending the course had stimulated their creativity and artistic expression, inspired them to be more active in their free time, and most felt calm. In the results, participants reported that the skills they had learnt, such as setting boundaries, patience, listening skills and better time management, had enabled them to have a better work-life balance.
After the opening remarks and the presentation of the survey results, a panel discussion followed, where experts addressed the importance of culture and creativity for human lives and presented examples of good practice. The panel discussion was attended by Tadej Meserko from the Ministry of Culture, Jasmina Ferček from the Institute OLOOP, Prof. Dr. Andreja Avsec from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and Asst. Matej Vinko, Dr. med. spec. in public health, from the National Institute of Public Health.
In the last part of the conference, a workshop entitled “Clayfulness” took place. Through clay modelling, participants were able to experience creative enthusiasm through a joint reflection.
The final conference took place in the framework of the BalanCed project, co-created by the project promoter Centre for the Communication, the Hearing and the Speech Portorož and project partners NO PROBLEM ZONE, the Institute for lifelong learning, creativity and well being, NOMED, the Institute for Independent Media Activity, Association for Culture and Education PiNA and the Culture Break Borders from Norway.
Source: Projekt BalanCed