Linking Up Environment, Health and Climate for Inter-sector Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in a Rapidly Changing Environment

Project Information

BlueHealth

Grant agreement ID: 666773

DOI

10.3030/666773

Project closed

EC signature date 1 December 2015

Start date 1 January 2016

End date 31 December 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being

Total cost

€ 5 998 671,25

EU contribution

€ 5 998 671,25

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BlueHealth (Linking Up Environment, Health and Climate for Inter-sector Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in a Rapidly Changing Environment)

Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2020-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Most Europeans live in cities built on waterways, lakes, or coasts. The H2020 BlueHealth project assessed how such blue spaces and the associated blue infrastructures affect human health and wellbeing across Europe and beyond. The overall objective was understand how urban blue infrastructure can to maximise benefits to health and the environment through pathways such as promotion of physical activity, reduction of stress, and urban cooling.

Early in the project, a Conceptual Model was developed incorporating what is known about how changes to natural environments impact on health and wellbeing (Figure 1). Changes made to blue infrastructure may impact on the amount, quality, character and distribution of blue space available to the public. This may change people’s contact, and the types of activities in blue spaces; this in turn influences health, wellbeing and quality of life.
Six key questions were addressed by BlueHealth:
1. How are health and wellbeing benefits of urban blue infrastructure distributed across Europe?
2. How can the distribution of benefits from blue spaces be made most equitable?
3. Can benefits of blue spaces be obtained through Virtual Reality (VR) technologies?
4. Can the benefits of blue infrastructure be incorporated into good design and urban planning?
5. How might different possible environmental futures influence urban blue infrastructures to deliver these benefits?
6. Can these benefits to health and wellbeing be factored into the maintenance and development of urban blue infrastructures?

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

BlueHealth exceeded all its aims. It provided in-depth answers to all key questions through novel contributions to the evidence base in several fields; developed tools and methods to gather data in support of evidence-based planning; developed blue urban infrastructure in several cities through focused interventions as proof of concept; and involved diverse stakeholders across Europe and beyond in many key aspects of research (https://bluehealth2020.eu/resources/).
- BlueHealth International Survey 18,000 people across 14 EU countries and beyond focused on the recreational use of blue spaces and their relationship with human health. https://bluehealth2020.eu/projects/bluehealth-survey/
- BlueHealth Toolbox a series of tools to capture information about the environmental quality of a site, how people use it (including barriers), and their self-reported wellbeing https://bluehealth2020.eu/news/bluehealth-tools/
- BlueHealth case studies an extensive portfolio of 180 international blue space case studies reviewed https://bluehealth2020.eu/resources/blueprofiles/
- BlueHealth secondary data analysis using existing data to investigate whether health is associated with green and blue spaces in cities in three European countries https://bluehealth2020.eu/projects/secondary-data/
- BlueHealth interventions a series of small-scale interventions that aimed to improve access to blue spaces, have affected recreational use, physical activity and mental wellbeing. https://bluehealth2020.eu/research/
- Virtual Reality of blue spaces used by diverse participants to gain access to potential health and wellbeing benefits https://bluehealth2020.eu/?s=virtual+reality
- BlueHealth Benefits policy brief a snapshot of the evidence collected, including useful links and a review of the challenges and opportunities urban blue spaces may face in the future. https://bluehealth2020.eu/resources/bluebenefits/
- 2020 BlueHealth Webinar hosted in collaboration with the Seas, Rivers, Islands & Coastal Areas (SEArica) Intergroup approved by the current legislature of the European Parliament and European Marine Board. https://bluehealth2020.eu/resources/bluehealth-webinar/
- High-level media coverage and dissemination in print media, videos, television and social media globally https://bluehealth2020.eu/news/

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

BlueHealth has created novel evidence for decision-makers on the development and maintenance of Europe’s blue spaces. Thanks to the diverse research conducted by interdisciplinary researchers (spanning landscape architecture, environmental psychology, epidemiology, governance and climate studies) with stakeholder involvement, decision-makers are now in a better position to consider how the health and wellbeing benefits of blue infrastructure policies and projects can be maximised.

In particular, new tools developed by BlueHealth have been created and made available via the BlueHealth Toolbox (https://bluehealth2020.eu/news/bluehealth-tools/). Tested and validated by researchers, in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, these tools are essential to design, planning, and maintaining blue spaces. They can be used by planners and communities to facilitate rigorous evaluation of interventions made in planning, use and governance of our cities in the face of climate change and other 21st century challenges to public health and well-being.

BlueHealth recognises the value of disease prevention and health promotion to secure improved long-term public health in Europe. Capturing co-benefits associated with urban blue infrastructure planning will result in savings to healthcare systems and other frontline services. Increased recognition of the value of blue spaces will support their preservation and management, leading to even more benefits to both health and the environment.

The international nature of the project makes this relevant across the EU and beyond. Conducting research at a wide range of levels (community, city, state) ensures applicability of project findings to many contexts. Blue infrastructures are often designed for other policy goals (e.g. transport, flood prevention); innovative design and planning can promote health and well-being by ensuring that co-benefits are captured.

Decision-making related to blue space and its relation to human health and wellbeing invariably requires cross-sectoral transdisciplinary interaction; many sectors are represented in the stakeholder groups engaged in BlueHealth (citizens, decision-makers at national and EU levels). This fosters immediate and lasting uptake of project outputs; and allows dissemination of results to those effecting—and impacted by—changes in Europe’s blue spaces.

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