Research Lunch Conversation with Maria Chatzichristodoulou: The Abundance Project

A Lunch meeting discussion about 'The Abundance Project’

The Abundance Project is a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded three-year research project that aims to enable better access for Black, minority ethnic, refugee and asylum-seeking communities to green and cultural spaces and assets via social prescribing, to improve mental health and wellbeing. It is led by a multi-disciplinary team that brings together academic expertise in arts, health, social and environmental sciences, alongside community leadership and lived experience. The Abundance team are passionate about bringing the proven benefits of engagement with culture and nature to a wider range of underserved communities by lifting barriers to access. The geographic focus of the project is on South London, but the findings and interventions developed are transferable and can be applicable to other parts of the UK and internationally. Prof. Maria Chatzichristodoulou, Abundance project Primary Investigator, will present the project’s journey, key findings and interventions developed, and will consider the applicability of those to contexts beyond London and the UK. 

Professor Maria Chatzichristodoulou is Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange across Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges, University of the Arts London, and Primary Investigator of the UKRI funded The Abundance Project (£1.3M). Maria is an expert in digital and live arts; she has maintained a curatorial practice in this area since 1998, when she co-founded the first Arts and Technology festival to take place in Greece. Maria has held academic leadership roles in UK Universities Kingston, London South Bank and University of Hull, and has curated festivals and exhibitions across Europe and in South America. She has led the European Regional Development Fund project ‘Accelerating the Creative Economy through Immersive Technologies’ (£1.2M), a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Footprint Scenery funded by Innovate UK and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (£280K) and other projects. Maria is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Performance Art and Digital Media.