The potential of the arts and their contribution to societal changes is untapped and this project aims to harness them on a pan European level. Working in part with a series of projects by artists working in and with communities, their outcome will be researched for policy development, and in turn, acknowledged as part of a European Wide Research Innovation Action (RIA).    

AMASS is taking place across eight different countries and with different marginalised communities. The University of Malta is represented by the Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education within the Faculty of Education, and its team is being coordinated by Professor Raphael Vella. In Malta, the projects will focus on migration, the loss of public space, and other societal challenges that will be researched in some depth.  In total, AMASS will set up over 30 artistic experiments with communities based in various parts of Europe. Thus, the project will work on a micro level of communities and immediate solutions, and as part of a European Wide RIA, will go on to develop recommendations for policy on a wider scale.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 and falls under the grant agreement No 870621. Together with the University of Lapland, the Associação de Professores de Expressão e Comunicação Visual, Charles University in Prague, the University of Borås, the Corvinus University of Budapest, PACO Design Collaborative, and the University of Leeds, the University of Malta is participating and contributing a series of projects to foster inclusive, innovative and reflective societies.