Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HEART (HEAlthier Cities through Blue-Green Regenerative Technologies: the HEART Approach)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
HEART aims to monitor and quantitively assess the impact of the blue-green urban environment on both physical and mental health, considering also socioeconomic aspects. Based on the outcomes, our main target is to create the HEART’s Blue Green (BG)-based methodology that encapsulates Public Health (PH) and Well Being (WB) criteria to the urban planning as main factors for future design and regeneration of European cities. Towards this direction, HEART incorporates advanced and emerging ICT-enabled technologies such as physical activity devices, integrated bio-sensors with the ability to monitor a variety of physiological signals, wearable bio-sensing devices, as well as chat-bot interfaces, always combined with prevailing monitoring methods and of the enabling environmental quality. The HEART integrated system will apply this quantitative robust evidence of BG performance for planning and policies by involving all relevant stakeholders in co-planning/design methodology and extrapolating it initially to the selected extrapolation areas of the participating cities (Aarhus, Athens and Belgrade) and then to the other European countries. Last but not least, the HEART results will be expanded to a wide network of health policy makers, healthcare providers and professionals, as well as to cities and strategic partnerships with all major networks worldwide. HEART aims to push health and governmental authorities to consider not only cost-effectiveness criteria towards urban planning, but also healthier living parameters in the cities.
HEART, evaluating nature-based solutions (BGS) on public health and well-being in European cities, ran from September 2022 to February 2024. Stakeholder engagement (WP1) involved interviews, workshops, and questionnaires to enhance involvement (D1.1 D1.2). Frameworks and tools for BGS impact assessment (WP2, D2.1 D2.2 D2.3) were developed. Clinical validation studies (WP3, D3.1 D3.2 D3.4 D3.5) targeted representative diseases, updating ICT tools based on feedback (WP4, D4.1 D4.2). Deployment and testing (WP5) occurred in clinical and non-clinical settings, refining methodologies (D5.1 D5.2 D5.3). Dissemination efforts (WP7) raised awareness through communication materials and online events (D7.3 D7.7). Exploitation strategies (WP8, D8.1) refined business plans for market entry. Coordination, ethics compliance (WP9, D9.4 D9.5) and legal adherence (WP10) were ensured throughout. Participants were fully informed, with the freedom to withdraw from the study (WP10).
Regarding the state-of-the-art and beyond, HEART provides key innovative elements in health and urban environment. HEART HCPM will establish a systematic interconnection of project PH and WB goals, targets, functions, concepts and solutions – pre-planning analysis, supported by the evidence based, clinically proven data sets, to systemically enhance the environmental (living) conditions directly responsible for PH and WB. In addition, the integration of HEART novel ICT tools will extend the applicability of the health monitoring and assistive technologies, providing new capabilities for vulnerable users in an extended context of a smart city. HEART targets to a multiregional clinical study in contrast to the current approaches targeting only specific regions. Therefore, heterogeneous environmental and urban BG space settings will be considered. HEART targets a wide range of health disorders. HEART will provide a planning criterion that suggests systemic urban regeneration rather than sustainability. Once regeneration criteria are introduced as urban planning standard, tangible life quality related benefits will be achievable. HEART innovates in social interaction and inequality reduction by introducing a mechanism for creating an enhanced level of understanding and mutual support of social groups. The method, designed to improve citizens cognitive performance and social health, will be based on the creation not only of specific urban spaces but also expanding it to the other parts of the city needed for social interactions and use of web-based dynamic interactive continuing dialogue tested in the demo-cities. HEART project aims to provide evidence that regular visits in Blue-Green areas not only affect the health and WB of the patients but also have a positive influence on social aspects of their life.