“A Manual on Work and Happiness” is an artistic collaboration that takes up a big societal issue - the relation between work and happiness – into the performing arts practice, creating an original performance with the direct participation of local communities of 3 countries. The project uses the indisputable social urgency of the topic (work and happiness) as a tool to trigger public engagement and draw people closer to the arts.The project encompasses 5 components: (1) the launch of a capacity-building network named ‘Southern Coalition’, in order to strengthen the operational capacity of the cultural agents of the countries involved;(2) the organization of a multidisciplinary International Seminar on Work and Happiness,(3) the writing of a theatre play in the form of an ‘Instruction Manual’ (4) participatory work with local communities in each country during four artistic residencies each one leading to one possible interpretation of the Instruction Manual, which results in a public performance staging a subjective approach to an apparently objective item.(5) an online platform where interaction on the theme takes place and where ALL the content of the project is OPENLY accessible (much like Instruction Manuals themselves)“A Manual on Work and Happiness” gathers 4 partners from the Mediterranean Europe: a theatre network from Portugal (ARTEMREDE), a Regional Public Theatre in Greece (PATRAS), two arts organisations in Italy, one specialized in artistic residencies (ARBORETO) and a performing arts festival (PERGINE). It invited an Iberian Artistic Team: Portuguese MALA VOADORA, a contemporary experimental theatre company that has been showcased in more than 20 countries, and PABLO GISBERT, a young theatre maker and playwright from Catalonia, Spain, who is currently presenting his politically-provocative works at reputable European venues such as Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, GIFT Festival in Gateshead or Théâtre de la Bastille in Paris.