Building Bridges to Learning, Peace, Positive Health and Medicine in Budapest #ECPP2018

Elaine O'Brien, PhD, MAPP '08, is a positive psychology, fitness leadership, positive health promotion, movement science, aging, and well-being speaker, author, trainer, thought leader, people/project manager, educator, and consultant. Elaine creates programs promoting proactive positive health/fitness, and optimal performance. Elaine presents internationally and online. She advances health, fitness, and flourishing by inspiring people to move more and to find both enjoyment and meaning in motion via PEP: Positive Exercise Practices. Elaine's website.  Full bio. Elaine's articles are here.

Building Bridges in Budapest
Courtesy Elaine O’Brien

Here is news overview about the conference with commentary by Dr. Lea Waters. Commentary by Dr. Peggy Kern was published last Friday. This is the conference that Dr. Attila Oláh invited people to attend in the March 2018 article, Three-in-One: 9th European Conference on Positive Psychology.

Dr. Lea Waters, IPPA President

The 9th European Conference, held in beautiful Budapest, was a wonderful event showcasing the latest science and practice from across the globe. In addition to the professional learning, the Europeans put on a terrific social program. They always do! The Conference Dinner cruise along the famous Danube River helped us build international friendships and professional connections while enjoying Hungarian food and looking at historic buildings.

The stimulating and collegial learning environment created by the conference organizers is also a value that we hold dear at IPPA. It was exciting to learn from many scientists and practitioners in Budapest

Put Melbourne in your calendar! The 6th IPPA World Congress will be held there from July 18-21, 2019.

We have secured the names we all love to learn from such as Martin Seligman, Barbara Frederickson, Sonja Lyubomirsky, and Sir Anthony Seldon. Importantly, you will have the opportunity to hear new voices and new ideas. We have been fortunate to secure speakers from many parts of the globe including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, England, Mexico, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, India, South Africa, Israel, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

If you want to be a speaker, watch for the invitation for abstract submissions in August.

International Panel on Positive Health and Medicine members

In this Positive Health and Medicine symposium led by Dr. Svala Sigurðardóttir, panelists shared their experiences applying positive theories, research, and innovative methodologies in medical and health care settings. Panelists included: Merethe Dronnen (Denmark), Lisa Buksbaum (USA), Kathi Norman (USA), Elaine O’Brien (USA), and Marlena Kossakowska (Poland – missing from picture). The aim here was to advance positive health and medicine at research and policy levels, while presenting critical aspects and positive implications of each panelist’s work. Plans are underway for a Positive Health and Medicine invited symposium at the 2019 IPPA World Conference with Svala as chair, and Kathi, Lisa, and Elaine to present the cutting-edge research and applications at the 2019 IPPA World Conference.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Andrea Ortega Bechara

It was fitting that positive psychology pioneer, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, of Hungarian ancestry, kicked off the ECPP in Budapest. He discussed the importance of well-being applications within the social-cultural context. He discussed the growth of positive psychology via individuals, and individual traits, but emphasized that we need to know more about the context of social systems for improving the quality of life.

In discussing the World Values Survey, Csikszentmihalyi, discussed trust, equality, happiness, and peace, saying, “If you want to change the world, make war less likely, and make peace a goal.” He also introduced Andrea Ortega Bechara, Columbia, who spoke about Science for Peace, and her passionate work in fighting poverty, lifting up education, and bringing peace to a country.

Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir (Iceland), president of the European Network for Positive Psychology, was a welcoming force, bringing positive energy and great professionalism to the conference. Dora presented during the invited symposium, Meaning in Surprising and Unsurprising Places, with chair, Michael Steger (USA), Bradley Conner (USA), Tamor Martos (Hungary), and Helena Agueda Marujo (Portugal). Helena gave an earnest plea in her talk for co-constructing collective meaning as a contribution to peace. Helena and her husband Luis Neto, are the leaders of MAPP Portugal.

Excellent keynotes were offered by Antonella Delle Fave, Barbara Fredrickson, Tamas Freund, Kate Hefferon, Itai Ivtzan, Hans Henrik Knoop, Jeanne Nakamura, Ryan Niemiec, and Wilmar Schaufeli. For example, Dr. Kate Hefferon invited her audience to celebrate complexity as the field increasingly includes qualitative methods.

An uplifting panel on Positive Education included Denise Quinlan, who works delivering training and consultation along with Lucy Hone in New Zealand. Denise discussed the power of whole school changes and how change is an iterative process that takes about 5 years using science, play, practice and implementation.

Along with the Positive Health and Medicine Symposium, I presented a workshop, MAPP Somatics: Let Me Hear Your Body Talk to a fantastic group of participants in the Gratitude Room.

The ECPP 2018 offered excellent social events to complement the scientific program. These including a Ruin Pub Crawl, yoga, sing-alongs, painting together, a thermal bath visit, and a gorgeous dinner river cruise on the Danube.

Ten years ago, I attended my first ECPP in Opatija, Croatia, 2008. This time too, dancing on the river cruise was a real treat. What a great way to have fun, boost energy, and build cherished connections! The ECPP was a full of embodied positive moments and shared experiences that helped build the bridges among us.