Nordic-Baltic countries and Ukraine public health experts meet in Stockholm to explore social innovation transfer - NDPHS

Nordic-Baltic countries and Ukraine public health experts meet in Stockholm to explore social innovation transfer

14 October, 2024

Public health experts from Germany, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Ukraine recently came together for a workshop focused on exploring framework conditions for social innovation transfer. Organized by the NDPHS, the Transferability Workshop aimed to identify successful public health interventions in the Baltic Sea region that could be adapted and implemented in other countries facing similar challenges.

An innovation does not always have to be completely new, it can also be new to a given context, Hauke Siemen, REM Consult, Germany.

Just like Nordic-Baltic countries share similar success stories and innovations in public health, they also grapple with issues like decreasing mental well-being, limited health care resources, and ageing population. Though countries have developed various approaches to address these public health concerns, social innovation transfer allows for sharing knowledge about interventions that work, learning from each other, and gaining insights into why some interventions succeed while others struggle. In short, social innovations refer to the development and implementation of new products, services and models to meet social needs and create new social relationships and collaborations with an aim of improving human well-being.

 

 

The NDPHS workshop brought together over 40 participants from national ministries of health, research institutions, universities, small enterprises, and non-governmental organizations under three NDPHS ongoing projects “Economy of Well-being of People” financed by Swedish Institute, “MentalHealthMatters” funded by Interreg Balstic Sea Region and “Solutions for Age-Friendly Employers (SAFE)” funded by Interreg Central Baltic. Discussions focused on specific public health practices around mental health at work and age-friendly workplaces. A key outcome was recognizing that successful interventions and innovation transfer depend heavily on various factors:

  • Understanding the context of both the place of origin and place of adoption,
  • Organisational setup,
  • Communication and framing (why are you doing it and why it works),
  • Economics (social business model, costs and benefits)
  • Long term perspective.

 

 

Innovations have to be translated and customized to improve the ‘fit’ with local conditions. The NDPHS workshop invited participants to share their knowledge about putting innovation transfer to practice that will help countries work smarter, not harder.

The workshop was the final event for the Swedish Institute – funded project Economy of Well-being of People, showcasing the methodology prepared during the project.

 

Photos: NDPHS Secretariat

 

Other News
Building a Healthier Workforce: New policy recommendations and a digital tool boost mental health for resilient teams
As it nears completion, the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project MentalHealthMatters has released a Discussion Document with practical recommendations for improving workplace well-being. The project also unveiled a digital First-Aid Kit packed with research-backed resources to help navigate common psychosocial risks at work.
9 June, 2025
Listen on Spotify – “SAFE and Sound” podcast launch
Tune in Health! The Interreg Central Baltic project's "Solutions for Age-Friendly Employer" (SAFE) consortium is launching "SAFE and Sound", a sub-series on the NDPHS podcast "Tune in Health". Join us as we dive into what makes a workplace age-friendly, share success stories, and explore how to boost job opportunities for individuals aged 55 and above.
4 June, 2025
World No Tobacco Day: Concerning trends in use of nicotine products among youth in the Nordic and Baltic countries
Nicotine is a toxic and highly addictive substance found in cigarettes and other tobacco products. In recent years, new nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, have entered the market, appealing particularly to children and young people. On World No Tobacco Day we join the global campaign to raise awareness about the harmful tactics of the tobacco industry and share a recently published report by Nordic Welfare Center highlighting the trends in nicotine product use among youth in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
30 May, 2025
Tiina Tambaum in the “Expert on Air”podcast: Is intergenerational cooperation a salvation?
Our Interreg CB project's SAFE expert Tiina Tambaum joined the "Expert on Air" podcast to discuss how older people can participate more actively in social life. The Tallinn University's podcast provides an overview of the current situation, future trends, and practical solutions that will help improve the inclusion of people in our society regardless of their age. Tiina Tambaum explores questions such as is older people involvement in work, community and political life sufficiently accessible? And if not, what could help them better apply their skills and knowledge and what is societies role in this process?
28 April, 2025
The MentalHealthMatters project culminates in Vilnius
In April, the MentalHealthMatters project held its final event in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the project partners shared key findings from this two-year-long initiative to improve mental health in modern workplaces across the Baltic Sea Region. The event, which coincided with the EUSBSR Policy Area Health Steering Group meeting, showcased the project's achievements in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, and Poland and explored future directions for Baltic Sea Region collaboration in this area.
16 April, 2025
What makes a workplace age friendly, and why should we evaluate it?
The nature of our occupation not only influences our aging process, but our evolving age also impacts the types of jobs we can pursue and how we perform. Our Interreg Central Baltic project SAFE seeks to improve employment opportunities for individuals aged 55 and above and will propose solutions for age friendly practices at work. During a project partner meeting hosted by the NDPHS Secretariat in Stockholm, we finalized the key steps in developing a self-assessment tool that will help companies to determine their age friendliness culture or a lack of it. The online tool will be piloted later this year.
26 March, 2025
World TB Day “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”
Tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease. On World TB Day we highlight an ongoing study led by Finnish Lung Health Association (FILHA) in close collaboration with the NDPHS Expert Group on HIV, TB and Associated Infections. The study is a part of the the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services financed project with an aim to increase knowledge and data about the latent TB infection situation in our region, provide evidence-based policy advice, improve cooperation between the countries in Nordic-Baltic region as well as Ukraine, and contribute to the WHO End TB Strategy.
24 March, 2025
All News >