We face great challenges. The background for the HEPRO project was that along with the rest of Europe, the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) was facing enormous challenges in respect of an ageing population, migration of young people from rural areas to cities, unemployment, an increase in alcohol and drug abuse, and in dealing with mental illness. The project expected an increase in lifestyle diseases and injuries from accidents that would make ever-greater demands on the treatment capacities of health services in the future.

These problems cannot be solved by one sector alone. The HEPRO project stressed that such challenges required imaginative, complex and diverse solutions, and they could not be resolved by the health care sector in isolation. To do something about these problems, it would require the involvement and cooperation of many different sectors of society; including local, regional and national authorities, as well as the public in general. It would also require transnational cooperation and shared knowledge across national borders.

The project emphasized that solutions could not only focus on risk factors, which had to be eliminated to avoid injuries or illness. It also had to focus on positive factors that promote health and well-being of individuals. HEPRO highlighted a broad cross-sectoral effort like this The New Public Health Work

Together, we can prevent these problems. The HEPRO project aimed to integrate health considerations into spatial planning and development. Its systematic approach tried to make an important contribution to the establishment of sustainable public health policies among the partners. HEPRO consisted of thirty-two partners, and brought together experts with specialist knowledge and experience from all relevant sectors across nine countries throughout the Baltic Sea Region. The project attempted to find ways to promote health effectively, and its results was brought to the attention to those who needed to take action.

HEPRO carried out a transnational population survey and training programmes, and concrete findings from the survey were used in the implementation of spatial planning processes. Results from the project are gathered in a tool-kit that aims to support decision-makers at regional and local levels with evidence based practical advice.

Read more about the project here:

Project description

The HEPRO model

Partnership

Toolkit

Planning tool

Scientific articles

Health surveys

Presentation

Communication

Questionaires