The second meeting of our EU Erasmus+-funded Face Equality Training project took place in Sweden at the start of December 2023. The event was hosted by project partner University of Kristianstad. All eight partner countries were present over the two-day meeting which focused on project outputs to date and developed plans for the next stage of the project involving the creation of comprehensive training materials for a one day course and a curriculum for a 27 hour micro credential qualification. The training is aimed at front line health professionals, and NGOs as well as vocational training schools through guidance counsellors and teachers.  It will highlight the challenges faced by those living with a disfigurement and look at ways  these issues can be addressed. Uniquely there is a social activism element to the training which will aim to change negative societal attitudes and reduce stigma.  The project website is now live and will be populated with training resources over the course of the project https://www.faceequalitytraining.org/

It was great to work together as a team and we were treated to some very seasonal weather with lots of snow. On the downside, however, this impacted significantly on our travel plans which turned out to be rather more complex than usual. We meet again in Valencia, Spain, in September and in contrast hope to expect some fine late summer weather there.