The project in summary

Healthcare Clowning International Meeting.

The project in detail

The participation of RED NOSES to the Healthcare Clowning International Meeting 2026 (HCIM 2026) aims to:

  • increase collective capacity to design artistic and psychosocial support interventions based on scientific evidence, expanding their reach;
  • transfer and acquire healthcare clowning skills and practices, increasing their impact;
  • strengthen the healthcare clowns’ skills and help shape the future of arts-based care for people in vulnerable and crisis situations;
  • consolidate the collaboration with key international stakeholders to foster interdisciplinary synergies (universities, NGOs, hospitals, policy-makers, artists) in order to maximize the impact of healthcare clowning;
  • launch new collaborations to ensure that the transformative benefits of arts and artistic therapies are systematically integrated into social, humanitarian, and healthcare strategies, at European and international level.

Direct beneficiaries
21 people, including managerial and artistic operators, researchers, governance.

Indirect beneficiaries
Approximately 500 people, including researchers, medical staff, policy-makers, healthcare clowns, and representatives of civil society (NGOs).

The 2026 edition of the Healthcare Clowning International Meeting (HCIM 2026), which will be held in Lausanne (Switzerland), on March 11-13, 2026, and organized by Fondation Theodora at the SwissTech Convention Center (EPFL Campus), will gather researchers, medical staff, policy-makers, healthcare clowns, and representatives of the civil society from around the world (500 participants expected) to discuss professional standards and best practices; extend and enhance the quality and impact of such practices in hospital settings and in situations of crisis and humanitarian emergency; promote research; and raise awareness.

RED NOSES, who will participate in the conference also with the support of Alta Mane, will play a key role in facilitating the exchange of this knowledge and the dissemination of best practices, strengthening its exemplary role in the field of healthcare clowning. In fact, in collaboration with 5 partner organizations from its international network (RED NOSES Austria, RED NOSES Croatia, RED NOSES Lithuania, RED NOSES Poland, RED NOSES Slovenia), will lead and moderate 14 different activities, including presentations, posters, interactive workshops, debates, and panels on the different fields of action and numerous contexts of application of healthcare clowning, offering participants new perspectives and effective methodological and scientific tools.