The city of Bergen is conducting large panel studies over several years to document the status of cultural participation and its relationship to well-being and health. Some of the panel studies include a family panel of 20% of Bergen's families with children and an COVID-19 panel with 11% of Bergen's adults. The goals are to experiment with and document specific cultural programs, start using data to plan cultural activities, and prove the long-term effects of culture on well-being. The studies aim to identify excluded groups and increase participation, especially in economically weak families. However, using data in this way is challenging due to data privacy laws and different priorities between research and city institutions. The city is working to improve information sharing and involve more

2. Overview - Bergen in Norway:
Cultural participation, well-being and health
• Formal cooperation with the University of Bergen on health –
“Not just an object of research but a subject to research with».
• Includes music therapy cluster.
• Age hub: City knowledge project
• Includes “Culture moves inn” project with nursing homes.
• Permanent city arts programs.
• For people with mental health disorders, for senior culture, for people with
developmental disabilities, and for professional arts in institutions.
• Support for institutions for outreach activities with health effect.

3. Large scale panel studies as foundation
The city of Bergen is running large panel studies over several
years (250 + questions) to create “facts that change the world”:
• 20% og Bergen's families with children between 3 and 15
(started in 2018).
• COVID 19 panel with 11 % of all adults in Bergen (collaboration
with the University of Bergen).
• Financing planned diversity panel covering all groups that face
discrimination that is on hold until after the pandemic.

4. Goals
• Short term: Documentation of status, discussion of effect of
current policy and programs.
• Medium term: Experimentation, documentation of concrete
programs, start of competence lift for data use in cultural sector.
• Long term: Excluded groups/ areas identified and included,
proof of the effect of culture on well-being, new competences in
use of data in fact based planning and execution.

5. Participation and well-being
• Family panel:
• Participation, or not, in genres, as basis for all policy. Focus on weak areas.
• Connected to audience development programs in economically weak families.
• Experimental questions (conjoint), on attitudes, nudges, access ect..
• Analysis of real total costs of participation. Analysis of access and knowledge.
• Doctorate on cultural and educational capital.
• Covid 19 panel:
• Planed research article with U. of Bergen on health and cultural participation –
including loneliness and heath data.
• Analysis of age and participation in general as basis for senior culture plan.

6. More difficult than we thought:
• Data-protection laws – a changing landscape. And a different
factor in university and city.
• Research institutions have different agendas to the city. Conflict
over real time data.
• Bringing health and education authorities on board not easy.
Culture is not understood as a cost-cutter.
• The arts and cultural sectors are new to using this sort of data
and documentation in their work. In Norway the connection
between culture and well-being and health is a new focus.
• Information and dissemination takes more time than envisioned.

7. What now:
• Developing information and dissemination program.
• More research partners, and financing.
• Greater detail in priority themes in panels.
• Connecting interventions to the panels – We have some nudge
projects and audience development, but more and better.
• Financing of diversity panel with both minorities and majorities
to chart shifting patterns of participation and inclusion, and
connected attitudes.