The project focuses upon the very special interface between art and society embodied in the clowndoctors: a group of 2 actors, who visit the wards of hospitals and care homes to give 3 to 5-hour performances that are specially conceived for an audience of seriously ill children or people requiring special care. The work of these artists supports the clinical healing process, using the magic of comedy and theatre as an effective means of reducing the psychological stress and hospital-induced isolation experienced by patients. The project is coordinated by "Red Noses International", based in Vienna/AT. In the consortium, the national Red Noses NPOs from 6 countries (AT, DE, CZ, SK, HU, SI) work together with art associations from further countries in which there are currently no national clowndoctor organisations (PL, EE, LV, LT) or in which initiatives of this kind only exist at a local level (HR, IT). This project creates a particular opportunity to gain deeper understanding of the national and cultural specific aspects of hospital clowndoctor performances. It also helps expand the clowndoctor concept to reach new patient target groups from different social and cultural groups. This corresponds to transnational mobility which increasingly affects the heterogeneity of patient populations. A most important goal of the project is to qualify the artistic performers, involving at least 200 artists from a minimum of 7 EU countries. A further relevant aim of the project involves communicating and building networks with interested groups in countries where the structures required enabling the employment of clowndoctors are insufficiently developed in institutional and educational-organisational terms. A third important focus is outwardly-directed communication: The results of this EU project and the intercultural dialogue arising from it will be communicated to a very wide public in the partner countries by means of a campaign called "Red Noses Action Day 2012".