The session ‘Greening health facilities – how can we move forward?’ will discuss initiatives aimed to support decision-makers in moving towards climate-neutral health facilities, spanning actions targeting sustainable building renovations, the increased use of renewable energy sources, improving recycling and waste management practices, developing green mobility plans for patients and staff, creating more green spaces and redesigning procurement practices to consider environmental criteria.
Healthcare systems around the world are responsible for a significant proportion of global carbon emissions: health care accounts for around 5% of global net emissions. However, there is hope that this impact can be mitigated through initiatives aimed at making the sector more environmentally friendly.
The European Union has been at the forefront of efforts to facilitate the greening of health facilities. A mapping of support instruments made available by the EU will be presented in this session, providing participants with valuable insight into the work of the Climate Competence Center at the Austrian Public Health Institute. Finally, participants will reflect on the importance of green skills development among health professionals for the realisation of sustainable healthcare practices, guided by insights from the BeWell consortium.
This session will feature Prof Dr Ronald Batenburg, Coordinator research programme at Nivel; Dr Chiara Cadeddu, Researcher at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dr Ruperta Lichtenecker, Head, Climate and Health Competence Center at GOEG; Dr Dimitra Panteli, Programme Manager, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Dr Matthias Wismar, Programme Manager at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, will facilitate the discussion.
We encourage you to check out the #EHMA2023 programme here and discover the over 50 sessions we have this year. Register before Friday, 26 May here to secure your spot at this significant conversation.
This session is organised in collaboration with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
