Regional Ministries collaboration to develop coordinated innovative actions in health & environment

By project GREENHEALTH

Published on 17 July 2024

Spain

Región de Murcia

About this good practice

The WHO and the EU urge Member States to develop actions and measures to promote healthy lifestyles and to improve the quality of the environment in which people live and work. This is in addition to the proven effectiveness of the relationship and contact with nature for preventing diseases and improving human health and well-being.

The main objective of the agreement is to pool the resources of the different stakeholders to implement innovative programmes and actions in the fields of health, environment and nature. In particular:
• Using nature as a preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative "agent" for chronic diseases, especially in childhood.
• Studying and disseminating the effects of activities in the natural environment and protected areas on humans.
• Increasing the use and care of natural Protected Areas, urban and peri-urban green areas to strengthen human health.
• Preventing the consumption of alcohol and other drugs, especially by teenagers.

The main stakeholders involved are GD (General Directorate) Environment; GD Citizen Services and Drug Dependency; and GD Health. The main beneficiaries include the citizens of the region. Pro-conservation behaviors also positively influence biodiversity.

Resources needed

Commitment of 3 PAs: financing measures to pursue the agreement’s objectives & provide two representatives (each) to follow up on it
Environment PA: to make available public infrastructures in the natural environment & native plants from regional nurseries
Specific resources for activities organized

Evidence of success

In the framework of the agreement, at least the following five initiatives have been launched:
• “Forests for health”
• “Path for the senses” in the surroundings of the Arrixaca hospital
• “Natur-Actívate”
• Collaboration with a Health Centre of Yecla in a geocaching project.
• Activities in regional protected areas in collaboration with the Hospitals of Murcia and Cartagena.

Potential for learning or transfer

GREENHEALTH proposes to improve the management of protected areas in several European regions by strengthening the links between biodiversity protection and human health and well-being. For this to be possible, it is essential that all regional authorities with competencies in these fields join forces, mechanisms and resources, and take advantage of the synergistic effects resulting from their pooling.
The signing of an agreement between them, setting out their interests and commitments, is a possible (and even necessary) first step for any European region wishing to start working on the issue. Its model and content can be adaptable and replicable basis. The creation of a monitoring committee made up of representatives from each of the parties, as proposed in this good practice, to monitor all matters related to the development of the agreement, will facilitate the fulfillment of the objectives and the implementation of the measures envisaged in the agreement.