“PA Health Support 2” project: progress and call for action Implementation of the “PA Health Support 2” project: progress and call for action

Summary of the project Title: “Support to coordination and implementation of activities within the EUSBSR Policy Area "Health” Programme specific objective: 4.2 Coordination of macro-regional cooperation: To increase capacity of public administrations and pan-Baltic organisations for transnational coordination in implementing the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and facilitating the implementation of common priorities with the partner countries. Financed by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme under the priority 4. Institutional capacity for macro-regional cooperation

The NDPHS Secretariat as EUSBSR PA Health Coordinator The objectives of the project are to further strengthen: The NDPHS capacity and coordinating role in the EUSBSR PA Health The PA Health activities aimed to help achieve a broader, more efficient and better targeted cooperation in addressing health- related regional challenges.

The NDPHS Secretariat as EUSBSR PA Health Coordinator The expected results are: The basic knowledge about the PA Health and the regionally agreed health and social well- being objectives and priorities is strengthened among the relevant actors and the public at large; A stronger commitment of the already engaged actors and more actors engaged in the PA Health; Strengthened capacity of regional stakeholders involved in health to develop and implement project-based activities;

The NDPHS Secretariat as EUSBSR PA Health Coordinator The expected results are (cont’d): The dialogue on regional interventions in the health and social well -being area between actors from the BSR EU countries and third countries as well as between NDPHS structures and external actors is strengthened; Further increased profile and understanding of health and social well -being among regional stakeholders.

The NDPHS Secretariat as EUSBSR PA Health Coordinator Implementation period: 15/06/2016 – 31/07/2018 (and additional three months for implementation of administrative activities related to the project closure). Reporting PR 1 (covers the period from 15/06/2016 until 31/07/2017) has been submitted to the FLC on 30 August 2017. The final PR1 has to be submitted to the donor by the 31 October 2017.

Progress: WP 1 Coordination In liaison with the actors concerned, including the health related Flagship Project Leaders: Maintaining, updating and further developing the EUSBSR section on the NDPHS website, as well as updating the NDPHS Database to include new EUSBSR related regional projects; State of affairs: are regularly updated. Developing at least three articles about EUSBSR and PA Health and publishing them in the NDPHS e-Newsletter/another regional newsletter; State of affairs: 3 articles have been published in the NDPHS e-Newsletter, 2 articles have been published on the EUSBSR website and a few short messages on the EUSBSR social media. 2 more articles will be published by the end of year 2017.

Progress: WP 1 Coordination Promoting inclusion of issues regarding the PA Health on the agenda of the EUSBSR Annual Forum. State of affairs: 7th EUSBSR Annual Forum, 2016, Stockholm (SE), PA Health workshop organised during the Forum; 8th EUSBSR Annual Forum, 2017, Berlin (DE), the NDPHS Secretariat contributed to the workshop on “eHealth and Data transfer across borders in the BSR” organised by the Life Science Nord Management GmbH. 9th EUSBSR Annual Forum in Tallinn (EE) on 4-5 June 2018 Call for action! Possibility to increase the visibility of the activities of the NDPHS and its EGs

Progress: WP 1 Coordination Developing a leaflet containing general information about the EUSBSR and PA Health and the latter’s activities, and distributing the leaflet during several events. State of affairs: Completed. Close liaison and cooperation with actors involved in the implementation of the PA Health. State of affairs: is continuously maintained. Mapping out the stakeholders and consultation and coordination meetings. State of affairs: will be implemented in 2018

Progress: WP 1 Coordination Working with the NDPHS expert-level structures to support them, inter alia, in: transferring the results of their project-based activities to the policy level; their efforts to prepare projects contributing to the implementation of the Action Plan for submission to funding programmes; activities related to the target(s) and indicator(s) of the PA Health, assisting selected stakeholders in project development, fundraising, implementation and follow-up. State of affairs: constantly developed; on-going.

Progress: WP 1 Coordination Assisting in processing and issuing (in accordance with the procedures) letters of support to the projects applying for funding to the Interreg BSR Programme 2014-2020 (and its EUSBSR Seed Money Facility). State of affairs: constantly developed and on-going. Organization of four steering committee meetings and two coordination meetings State of affairs: 2 steering committee meetings organised, 1 coordination meeting organised and 1 on-going.

Progress: WP 1 Coordination Promoting visibility, understanding and appreciation of the EUSBSR, and its PA Health State of affairs: constantly developed and on-going. Call for action! NDPHS EGs are kindly invited to disseminate information relevant to / produced by the project through their communication channels.

Progress: WP 2 Improving the coordination of PA Health activities and increasing their impact Contributing to the 7th EUSBSR Annual Forum State of affairs: Completed. Study and paper on health economy Training on project development and implementation State of affairs: in progress Stakeholder consultation meetings

Training on project development and implementation Progress: WP 2 Training on project development and implementation State of affairs: in progress 2-day training in designing, developing and implementing projects Will be run along with coordinators of the EUSBSR Horizontal Action “Capacity” Will be organised on 8-9 November 2017 in Riga, Latvia. The aim of the training is to help strengthen capacity among regional stakeholders to develop and implement projects within the Policy Area “Health.”

Training on project development and implementation Progress: WP 2 Training on project development and implementation State of affairs: in progress Call for applications was disseminated in mid-August 2017 Deadline to submit applications was 20 September 2017 29 applications have been received from EE, FI, SE, DK, RU, LV 3 project concepts have been submitted by applicants, which will be used as a point of reference and a case-study during the training Up to 20 applicants will be selected and confirmed The final programme of the training will be designed according to participants needs and preferences, which will be identified on the basis of their answers in the online survey (an obligatory part of the application form)

Training on project development and implementation Progress: WP 2 Training on project development and implementation During the 1st day (run by coordinators of the Horizontal Action “Capacity”), the focus will be on the EUSBSR in general, and the Policy Area “Health” in particular. On the 2nd day, the NDPHS Secretariat will hold training on project development and implementation for stakeholders active in the Policy Area “Health”. Its focus will be on proper planning of project elements by employing various project management tools.

Training in project development and implementation Progress: WP 2 Training in project development and implementation During the 2nd training day the event will be facilitated by the facilitator and the content will delivered by 2 trainers and a couple of invited guests/speakers. 1st Trainer: Mr Wiktor Szydarowski – already has been contracted 2nd Trainer: Mr Marek Maciejowski – to be contracted Call for action! EGs are kindly invited (by the 3nd October) to delegate their candidates to attend the event, however, the Secretariat will not be able to cover their travel and subsistence costs.

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings The project supports the interested NDPHS structures by providing funding for 3 types of trips: Participation in meetings held by stakeholders relevant for the EUSBSR Policy Area "Health"; Visiting organizations and institutions of stakeholders relevant for the EUSBSR Policy Area "Health" to bilaterally discuss joint collaboration within the EUSBSR context; Participation of external stakeholders in meetings of the interested NDPHS Expert Groups to discuss joint collaboration within the EUSBSR context.

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings The first two cases - representatives of the NDPHS Expert Groups can have their trips funded by the NDPHS Secretariat, in the third case - regional stakeholders invited by Expert Groups can have their trips funded by the NDPHS Secretariat to participate in EG meetings. Altogether 10 trips can be financially supported. The NDPHS Expert Groups were invited to contact the Secretariat, if interested, to discuss further details bilaterally.

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings The proposed stakeholder consultation meetings should aim to: help exchange information and expertise between various NDPHS structures and other organizations in the region, which would help increase the latter's understanding of, engagement in, and commitment to the EUSBSR and the PA Health; help pool regionally available resources for implementation processes; help avoid duplication of work among regional stakeholders in their EUSBSR-related activities; help identify regional activities (incl. projects) that require cooperative efforts to develop and implement; to help identify relevant project results that should be transferred to the policy level.

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings Proposed stakeholder consultation meetings must be consistent with the tasks of the policy area coordinator which are stipulated in the EUSBSR Action Plan, e.g.: “Facilitating the involvement of and cooperation with relevant stakeholders from the entire macro-region and in close cooperation with those: (...) 3. Facilitating policy discussions in the Baltic Sea region regarding the policy area concerned. 4. Facilitating the development and implementation of actions and flagships defined under the policy area. 5. Conveying the relevant results and recommendations of the on-going and completed flagships to the policy level. 6. Ensuring communication and visibility of the policy area. (...)"

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings Justification to be provided to the NDPHS Secretariat (for the donor): Invitation to the meeting/ Confirmation to attend the meeting (email communication could be satisfactory) The proof of active participation in the consultation meeting: Agenda of the meeting Presentation or some other material delivered during the consultation mtg. Post-event documents (meeting minutes, summary, conclusions, etc.) List of participants with signatures Pictures Message in social media or published article about the meeting All the used material should follow the donors requirements for visibility

Stakeholder consultation meetings Progress: WP 2 Stakeholder consultation meetings Call for action! Deadline to submit your proposal to the NDPHS Secretariat is 17 December 2017

Call for action! Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme will soon open calls for applications from the Policy Area and Horizontal Action Coordinators of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Announcement note for the specific objective 4.2 “Coordination of macro-regional cooperation” Preliminary timeline: 1 November 2017 – 21 March 2018 The NDPHS Secretariat in its capacity as coordinator for EUSBSR PA Health has been granted with funding from this programme already for 2 projects: PA Health support (2015-2016) 12 + 3 months. Finished and approved by the donor. PA Health Support 2 (2016-2018) 24 + 3 months. On-going.

Seed money calls Please note: The fourth and the last project approval of the EUSBSR Seed Money Facility was closed on 18 February 2016 resulting in 28 new seed money projects. This was the last call for applications organised within the framework of the EUSBSR Seed Money Facility. From now on seed money support is provided by Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme closed the first call and approved 25 project in May 2017. Second call: no date announced yet.

Thank you! This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the NDPHS Secretariat and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.