Swedish Institute Baltic Sea Cooperation · great challenge to achieve ecologically sustainable city development while minimizing negative consequences for health and the environment

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Swedish Institute Svenska institutet Slottsbacken 10 Box 7434 SE-10391 Stockholm Sweden

P +46 (0)8 453 78 00 [email protected] www.si.se www.sweden.se

The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest and confidence in Sweden around the world. SI seeks to establish co-operation and lasting relations with other countries through strategic communication and exchange in the fields of culture, education, science and business.

Swedish Institute Baltic Sea Cooperation

Application for seed funding – deadline February 1, 2017

Project description

Applicant organisation

Karolinska Institutet Project acronym

BELUGA Project title

Baltic Network on Environmetal Health and Sustainable Urban Development Contact person

Göran Pershagen

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Contents

1 Aim

2 Context

3 Composition of the partnership

4 Summary: Objectives, activities, indicators and expected outputs

5 Work plan

6 Communication

7 Sustainability

8 Risk analysis

Appendix 1 – Project description

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1 Aim (maximum 2,000 characters) State the aim of the seed funding project.

The main aim of the project is to expand and strengthen a network for environmental health and sustainable city development, which was initiated in a previous seed-funding project supported by the Swedish Institute (SI). The earlier project lasted one year and was very successful but ended in February 2017. It included medical universities in three rapidly expanding cities in Belarus, Sweden and Ukraine (Minsk, Stockholm and Kiev) as well as representatives from planning agencies in these cities. Through workshops and a conference, a network has been established to promote sustainable urban development by increased awareness and consideration of environmental health issues in the urban development processes.

The expanded network entitled BELUGA will also involve Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where contacts have been established with the universities in Tartu, Riga and Kaunas, as well as with authorities and organizations involved in urban development. Workshops in environmental epidemiology will be held in Tartu, Riga and Kaunas as well as two conferences (one in Stockholm and one in Riga). The new project greatly benefits from the experiences gained in the existing network, both in relation to content and output. For instance, one important component will be close collaboration between environmental health specialists and planning experts in practical examples of city development on regional and local levels.

A further aim of the project is to prepare applications for future funding of the collaboration. In particular, this relates to programs supported bu the European Union, such as Horizon 2020, the Central Baltic Program 2014-2020 and ERASMUS+. Many partners in BELUGA have extensive experience of successfully competing for funding in international collaborative projects, which indicates that the potential is great for obtaining resources for a continuation of the cooperation.

BELUGA falls within the SI main thematic area "An ecologically sustainable region."


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2 Context (maximum 3,000 characters per textbox) Remember: Your description should focus on the overall context for both the seed funding project that you

apply for AND the extended, future project that the seed funding project will contribute to.

TABLE: THE COMMON CHALLENGES THAT YOU SHOULD COMMENT ON REGARDING THE

SPECIFIC CHALLENGE/NEED IN YOUR PROJECT:

Strategy/policy Common challenges Link

The EU Strategy for the

Baltic Sea Region

(EUSBSR)

Specific objectives/actions

relating to different policy

areas or horizontal actions.

http://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/

The EU’s Eastern

Partnership

Specific themes under the 4

platforms or other themes

mentioned in the summit

declarations.

http://eeas.europa.eu/eastern/index_en.htm

The HELCOM Baltic Sea

Action Plan

Specific goals and objectives

in the action plan.

http://www.helcom.fi/baltic-sea-action-

plan

Describe the specific challenge or need, in the Baltic Sea Region, that your project meets and its

relevance in terms of impact on the common challenges in the region as identified in the relevant

documents (see box above). Urbanization is an ongoing process around the world. In 2008 around half of the world's population lived in urban areas, and by 2050 it is expected that more than two thirds will live in such areas. Stockholm is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe and Kaunas, Kiev, Minsk, Riga and Tallinn are also expanding. In some aspects urbanization is a positive process. For example, it enhances development by facilitating meetings between academia, entrepreneurs and authorities. It may also promote sustainability by reducing transportation needs and energy consumption for residential heating. However, there are also some drawbacks in urban areas, such as increased exposure to air pollution and noise as well as reduced availability of health promoting green areas. There is a great challenge to achieve ecologically sustainable city development while minimizing negative consequences for health and the environment. Cardiovascular disease is the most important adverse health effect of air pollution from a public health point of view but respiratory diseases are also prominent. In children, both asthma and disturbed lung function may be caused by air pollution. Traffic noise increases the risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction. In recent studies a relation between traffic noise and obesity has been indicated. Possible mechanisms include noise induced sleep disturbances and long-term stress, which both can promote development of cardiovascular disease and obesity. Climate change may pose particular threats for urban areas. For example, it is expected that the number and intensity of heat waves will increase. In urban areas this may be particularly pronounced since such areas are generally warmer than surrounding regions. Several studies suggest that living near green areas is associated with beneficial health effects. The mechanisms are not well understood, but it is indicated that availability of parks and other green areas in the vicinity must be taken into consideration in the planning of sustainable urban areas. BELUGA falls within the SI main thematic area "An ecologically sustainable region." Furthermore, it relates to several priorities in the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. For example, in PA Health is stated that "Another challenge is the impact of climate change and other environmental factors such as air pollution…". PA Innovation mentions as one objective to contribute to "sustainable growth through long term transnational cooperation". PA Spatial planning fits perfectly with our network since exposure assessment for air pollution, noise and green areas is based on spatial models. Priorities relating to our project may also be found in PAs Neighbors and

http://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/

http://eeas.europa.eu/eastern/index_en.htm

http://www.helcom.fi/baltic-sea-action-plan

http://www.helcom.fi/baltic-sea-action-plan


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Sustainable development. Furthermore, in the EU’s Eastern partnership (involving Belarus and Ukraine within BELUGA) sustainable development is stressed as well as integration and convergence regarding environment and climate policies.

Describe the added value to be gained by solving this challenge through transnational cooperation

instead of each country trying to solve it at national level. The transnational added value is obvious for certain aspects of BELUGA, such as air pollution emissions, which know no borders. This is also highlighted by radioactive emissions from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, which heavily affected most countries in our proposed network, as well as by emissions from fossil-fueled power plants in Eastern Europe, which affect the whole region. Furthermore, it is clear that positive experiences in sustainable city development may provide inspiring examples also for others. A common challenge for countries in the Baltic region is to ensure that ongoing and intensified urbanization is sustainable in relation to environment and health. One prerequisite is that knowledge is up to date on adverse health effects of urban characteristics including air pollution, noise and heat islands as well as lack of green space. Environmental epidemiology is crucial for achieving such knowledge, both for conducting own studies and for interpreting evidence generated by others. This necessitates a raised competence in environmental epidemiology, which is limited in most countries involved in BELUGA. One aim of the proposed network is knowledge transfer and exchange through a series of workshops in environmental epidemiology organized in Kaunas, Riga and Tartu. However, increased knowledge in environmental health related to urbanization among scientists and health professionals is not sufficient, it is also necessary to involve decision makers at local, regional and national levels engaged in planning by close contact with administrators and politicians. In Stockholm we have extensive experience of such collaboration through the Institute of Environmental Medicine, which is a national authority generating relevant research and risk assessments on a national level, as well as the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine of the Stockholm County Council, which has a similar role on the regional and local levels. One aim of the present network is to establish contacts between corresponding organizations in other countries in BELUGA and to learn from the experience of each other. Several of the partners in BELUGA have extensive experience of international collaboration, primarily in multinational projects funded by the European Union. This experience has been crucial for development of competence in environmental health and risk assessment in the region. Epidemiological methodology is fundamental in generating knowledge on causes of disease as a basis for preventive action. Scandinavian countries have traditionally been strongholds for epidemiology, facilitated by the use of person-numbers, abundance of high-quality registers and high participation rates in the general population. The experience of the centers in BELUGA clearly shows the great benefits of international collaboration and also proves that we are highly competitive in obtaining funding from national and international organizations.

Briefly describe to the best of your knowledge the Baltic Sea macro-regional context for your

project, including initiatives/activities pursued by others and complementary projects in the

Baltic Sea Region. Specify also in what way your project proposal differs from/complements

other initiatives. The Swedish Institute has supported advanced scientific training of young researchers from the Baltic Region through a series of “sandwich” programs for PhD studies at Karolinska Institutet. This started with Estonia and Latvia, and then continued with Western Russia and finally with Ukraine and Belarus. These programs have resulted in a substantial number of scientifically well educated staff in the medical field in the Baltic region. Some of these scientists are involved in the proposed network, pointing to the strategic benefits of the earlier investments by the Swedish Institute. Starting in March 2016 the Swedish Institute funded a seed-funding project entitled ENVIROHEALTH which included medical universities in Kiev, Minsk and Stockholm as well as representatives from planning agencies. This project lasted one year and was very successful in


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establishing a network to promote sustainable urban development by increased awareness and consideration of environmental health issues in the urban development processes. BELUGA builds on the experiences obtained in ENVIROHEALTH, both in relation to content and output. For instance, one important component of the new network will be close collaboration between environmental health specialists and planning experts in developing practical examples of healthy city development on regional and local levels. The partners in BELUGA are engaged in several recent or ongoing multinational projects, mostly funded by the European Union. Some of these are ESCAPE, MeDALL, ELAPSE, HiWATE, COPHES, PHENOTYPE and HELIX, which all include environmental and/or health aspects. Furthermore, the partners have international collaboration in educational activities, primarily in epidemiology and environmental health, funded by the European Union within the ERASMUS+ program. To some extent this is based on the network created within ENVIROHEALTH. The European Union is currently preparing a new call for proposals within the Research and Innovation Program Horizon 2020. A part of the call will focus on “Urban health” which suits our proposed network perfectly. This relates to how urban environments determine the health and wellbeing of residents and specifically mentions participation of experts in exposure assessment, epidemiology, health impact assessment and urban planning, who are all included in our proposed network. Other parts of the EU call focus on the impact of environment on health and on climate change and health, which are both related to the scope of BELUGA. Another possible source of funding is the Central Baltic Program 2014-2020. One aim of BELUGA is to prepare proposals to the European Union based on relevant calls.


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3 Composition of the partnership (maximum 3,000 characters per textbox) Your description should focus on the partnership for the seed funding project you apply for.

Please indicate how this project relates to the main applicant’s other activities and strategies/goals.

Please also reflect on the main applicant’s commitment to the project.

The main applicant Göran Pershagen (GP) has worked with research and risk assessment in environmental health during more than 40 years. He has successfully led a number national and international research programs with a total funding of more than 100 000 000 SEK. Some recent examples include PARSIFAL funded by the European Union, focusing on preventive factors for allergy in children, and SNAP funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, aimed at health effects of ambient air pollution. GP was director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet from 2000 to 2009 with a yearly budget of around 250 000 000 SEK and about 300 employees, including 25 professors. He now leads a unit with around 25 collaborators involved in research and risk assessment regarding health effects related to air pollution, noise, climate change and green areas as well as regarding causes of allergy. GP has published around 300 scientific articles with original data in international journals with peer review. The total number of citations in January 2017 was 12 988 with an h-index of 64. He speaks Swedish, English, Russian and German fluently and uses these languages on a daily basis.

The Institute of Environmental Medicine (IEM) is a national authority in environmental health, which produces risk assessments and provides expert advice for different government agencies. IEM is also heavily involved in international activities as member of expert groups, particularly for the WHO and EU. Furthermore, IEM is one of the leading departments in research at Karolinska Institutet and is also involved in teaching. The environmental epidemiology unit headed by professor Göran Pershagen (main applicant) received the highest rating ("Outstanding") in the most recent international evaluation of research at Karolinska Institutet. The research focus of his unit is health effects of air pollution and noise but it is also involved in research on health consequences of climate change and availability of green areas. For several decades his group has been heavily involved in risk assessment activities, both nationally and internationally. IEM had a leading role in the ENVIROHEALTH network and will assume similar responsibilities in BELUGA.

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine of the Stockholm County Council is engaged in identification and prevention of occupational and environmental hazards. It also investigates and treats patients suffering from health conditions related to exposures in the occupational and general environment. The unit of environmental medicine at the Center has a similar focus as the unit of environmental epidemiology at IEM, but its activities are more focused on regional and local issues. Göran Pershagen is also senior physician at the Center. This Center will primarily provide competence and experience within regional and local environmental health risk assessment as well as in city development.

Describe in what way the partnership reflects a cross-sectoral and multi-level governance

perspective.

The partners in each country of the BELUGA network represent academic or research institutions involved in environmental health research, education and risk assessment on the one hand and academic institutions or authorities engaged in research, education and urban planning activities on the other. From Sweden the participating centers are described in the previous section.

From Estonia the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Tartu is engaged. This department has extensive experience in environmental and occupational epidemiology as well as in local urban regeneration and development projects. The other Estonian partner is the Center for Architecture in Tallinn with expertize in healthy city development.


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Latvia is represented by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Environmental Health at Riga University. This Institute conducts research and risk assessment focused on prevention and has contacts with national and local authorities, including the Riga City Architect Bureau, which is a municipal authority responsible for urban planning.

In Lithuania one partner is the Department of Environmental Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, which is involved in education, environmental risk assessment and environmental health impact research. The other partner is the urban planning department of the Kaunas City Municipality,

In Belarus one partner is the Belarusian State Medical University and its Department of cardiology and internal diseases, which is active in clinical and epidemiologic research. The other partner is the Institute of Management and Social Technologies of the Belarusian State University, which is heavily engaged in urban planning.

In Ukraine one partner is the Institute of Medical Ecology and Hygiene, in particular its laboratory of air quality, which has extensive experience of ecological monitoring and risk assessment. Also engaged is the National University of Construction and Architecture and its Department of City Planning.

In each of the participating countries there is already collaboration between the two centres included in BELUGA. Responsible individuals have been identified in each centre, who have personal experience of collaboration. This facilitates participation and cooperation in BELUGA. Most of the contributing centers also have extensive experience of international collaboration. The new dimension in BELUGA is international collaboration across disciplines, such as architecture, urban planning, environmental health and risk assessment. Furthermore, the multilevel aspects of BELUGA are paramount in that central, regional and local authorities participate, primarily regarding urban planning, as well as research institutes and universities.


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Describe all project partners, including name of organisation, country and type of

organisation. For each organisation, specify briefly its competence and role in this project.

Describe the added value each gains from participating in it.


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1/ Name and country of organisation: Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Type of organisation: University

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Environmental epidemiology and risk

assessment Role of organisation in this project: Lead institution, co-organizer of all workshops and conferences

Added value this organisation gains from participating: Increased knowledge and new partnerships

2/ Name and country of organisation: Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the

Stockholm County Council, Sweden Type of organisation: Health authority

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Risk assessment and regional planning

Role of organisation in this project: Host of one conference, contributor to workshops


3/ Name and country of organisation: University of Tartu, Estonia Type of organisation: University

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Environmental and occupational health

Role of organisation in this project: Host of one workshop, conference contributor


4/ Name and country of organisation: Centre of Architecture, Estonia Type of organisation National Institute

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Architecture, urban planning

Role of organisation in this project: Contributor to two conferences


5/ Name and country of organisation: Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia Type of organisation: University

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Environmental and occupational health

Role of organisation in this project: Host of one workshop and cohost of one conference


6/ Name and country of organisation: Riga City Architect Bureau, Latvia Type of organisation: Municipal authority




7/ Name and country of organisation: Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

Type of organisation: University

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Environmental epidemiology and risk

assessment Role of organisation in this project: Host of one workshop, conference contributor


8/ Name and country of organisation: Kaunas City Municipality, Lithuania Type of organisation: Local authority

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Urban planning



9/ Name and country of organisation: Belarusian State University and Belarusian State Medical

University, Belarus Type of organisation: Universities

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Architecture, cardiology and urban planning




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10/ Name and country of organisation: Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Ukraine

Type of organisation: National Institute

Competence of organisation to be used in this project: Environmental and public health



11/ Name and country of organisation: National University of Construction and Architecture,

Ukraine Type of organisation: University





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4 Summary: Objectives, activities, indicators and expected outputs Specify the SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Relevant, Time-bound, Emotionally attractive and

Realistic) short-term objectives to be achieved during the seed funding project, along with the project’s

activities, indicators and expected concrete outputs and/or its established structures.

Please note that these exact objectives are to be reported in the final project report.

Please see the instructions for detailed information on how to fill in the compilation table.

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Short-term project objective Activity/Operation Indicator Expected output

Strengthen competence in environmental epidemiology and risk assessment

Workshops in

Kaunas, Tartu and

Riga

Evaluations

and tests

Increased knowledge in

environmental epidemiology and

risk assessment

Exchange of experience in sustainable city development

Conferences in Riga and Stockholm

Evaluations and reports

New insights in sustainable city development

Establishment of collaboration in environment health and sustainable city development

All network activities

Sustainable collaboration

Prolongation of collaboration after initiation of network

Preparation of EU applications Collaborative preparation of applications

EU-applications

Applications within EU programs, such as Horizon 2020, Central Baltic Program 2014-2020 and ERASMUS+


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5 Work plan Make a work plan using the table below. Please make sure that all activities mentioned in the table

compilation above are also mentioned here. If dates are not available, state the expected time frame in as

much detail as possible.

How to use this table

Start by clicking in the first cell. Use the ‘Tab’ key to move to the next cell. You can choose any cell by

clicking in it.

Add new rows to the table by selecting the last cell and then pressing the ‘Tab’ key.

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selecting ‘Delete rows’.

You can use the ‘Table tools’ function in Word to add/delete rows.

To leave this section after filling it in you have to move to another section manually.

Date(s) Place/Country Activity/Operation Responsible partner

Invited

stakeholders/parti-

cipants

October 2017

Stockholm, Sweden Conference Karolinska Institutet All partners

March 2018

Tartu, Estonia Workshop Tartu University Researchers, students and risk assessors

September2018

Riga, Latvia Workshop Riga University Researchers, students and risk assessors

December2018

Kaunas, Lithuania Workshop Kaunas University Researchers, students and risk assessors

March 2019

Riga, Latvia Conference Karolinska Institutet All partners


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6 Communication (maximum 2,000 characters per textbox) Describe how the objectives, activities and outputs of the project will be disseminated and communicated

within each partner organisation.

All partners in BELUGA have extensive resources for internal and external communication. In each of the six participating countries one or both partners are universities, where the communications departments are usually well developed and organize high quality websites and spread information also through other channels, such as Facebook. It is also essential that information activities are focused on the relevant departments at the universities which constitute the primary recruitment base for the workshops organised within BELUGA. Other partners include national, regional and local authorities as well as institutes. These organisations also have communication facilities which will be supplied with material from BELUGA. Obviously, it is cost-effective to make use of existing resources and competence in communication as a vehicle for distribution within the partner organisations.

internally within the partnership.

It is essential that the activities of BELUGA are communicated within the network. For this a website will be created. The website will include presentations at the workshops and conference as well as other relevant material. A PhD student at Karolinska Institutet will serve as a part-time secretary of the project and be responsible for the website as well as for communication between the centers in BELUGA. She will also document and distribute material generated at the workshops and conferences. Drafts of proposals resulting from the collaboration in BELUGA will be prepared by Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the partners in the network. Teleconferences with relevant partners will also be organized on regular basis between the workshops and conferences.

It is intended that the first conference within BELUGA in Stockholm will serve as a kick-off for the project. Some lectures will be given by members of the network with reviews of new evidence regarding health risks related to air pollution, noise, heat and absence of green areas, respectively. However, most of the time during this conference will be devoted to detailed planning of the activites within the network. The three subsequent workshops will be devoted to environmental epidemiology and risk assessment with participation from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, respectively, as well as from the other countries in BELUGA. The final conference will include all partners, as well as external stakeholders, to achieve maximum visibility and usefulness.

to relevant stakeholders (for example other networks), including policymakers and possible end

users of the project’s outputs.

Most information on the above mentioned website will also be available for external users. In addition, there are extremely well worked out channels for communication with various stakeholders, including media, policy makers and other potential users of the material generated in BELUGA through the information units at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Instutet, and the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Stockholm County Council as well as corresponding organizations participating in the network from the other countries. These information channels include official newsletters, press releases and home pages of the respective organizations. In addition, representatives from these organizations regularly meet administrators and politicians at the local, regional and national levels as well as other potential users of the output of BELUGA. Another example includes Estonia, where the University of Tartu Marketing and Communication Office has extensive experience in science communation with contacts to old medias such as TV and newspapers and modern medias as facebook and twitter. Furthermore, information from workshops and conferences will be circulated to interested bodies through the Estonian Center of Architecture and the Estonian Council of Spatial Planners. Also the city governments will be contacted and information distributed. In Lithuania specialists, stakeholders and citizens will be familiarized with the knowledge gained in BELUGA during the Annual International Human Safety Conference, and the reports publicized in the Conference Proceedings. Similar activities will be ongoing in other participating countries. In view of the great public interest in environmental health, urban planning and housing etc it is anticipated that the output of BELUGA will attract great attention.


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7 Sustainability (maximum 2,000 characters per textbox) Indicate how you intend to achieve long-term sustainability for the project results and how you intend to

ensure durability for your project/partnership.

Please identify possible practical uses of the outputs from the seed funding project, both within

the partnership and in reference to external stakeholders/target groups.

The main applicant has a proven track record of collaboration in research and teaching with the countries of the Baltic region stretching over decades. Long-term sustainability of BELUGA is facilitated by involvement of a new generation of future decision makers and by addressing issues of high priority in the society. In spite of the inadequate basis for environmental health risk assessment, authorities on central, regional and local levels make numerous decisions on health protection in relation to environmental hazards. For example, most municipalities with urban areas face an ever increasing number of conflicts in development of infrastructure (housing, roads etc) because of noise and air pollution from traffic. More knowledge on health risks related to the environment will enable rational decisions to promote a sustainable city development. The younger participants engaged in BELUGA are crucial for ensuring future development of the network. In the end, sustainability is determined by the appreciation of all partners that each has something to gain from the collaboration. Since urbanization and sustainable city growth is high up on the political agenda, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, it is anticipated that funding opportunities for a continuation will be available, for example at the EU-level.

Describe your planned development of an extended future project; the partnership, conditions

and resources necessary for future collaboration.

There is a great potential for continuation of BELUGA. The network touches on many different types of activities, such as environmental health research and education, risk asessment and urban planning. These activities generally involve different organisation and it is important to maintain the interdisciplinary and multilevel nature of BELUGA. Universities are primarily responsible for research an education. Important research topics related to BELUGA include identification of which air pollution components (particles, gases) and sources that are responsible for the different health effects, how environmental noise influences the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, the role of heat islands in cities for adverse health effects and mechanisms for the positive health benefits of living near green areas. Research may also be more applied and focused on urban planning and health. Substantial resources with a duration of several years are necessary for successful and internationally competitive research. Educational activities require less resources and can benefit from an exchange of teachers and students as envisaged in BELUGA. In planning activities it could be of great value with positive examples of how environmental health aspects have been considered in achieving sustainable development of cities. Such examples will be highlighted in BELUGA.

Indicate potential future sources of funding, both internal and external. The external funding

sources must be defined and linked to specific calls within different funding programmes.

Many partners in BELUGA have extensive experience of participation in international collaborative projects. Some examples of such programs mostly funded by the EU include ESCAPE, MeDALL, ELAPSE, HiWATE, COPHES, PHENOTYPE, HELIX, CANERIEH, ACCEPTED, CBHE, RHINE and APHEKOM. In some instances members of BELUGA have been coordinators of large international projects financed by the EU. The projects have generally focused on environmental health issues.

Within the Research and Innovation Program Horizon 2020 of the European Union a call on “Urban health” is under preparation. This call focuses on how urban environments determine the health and wellbeing of residents and specifically mentions participation of experts in exposure assessment, epidemiology, health impact assessment and urban planning, who are all included in BELUGA. Other calls of relevance for BELUGA are also in the preparatory stage which focus on the impact of the environment on health as well as on climate change and health. Given the present strong interest within the EU on environmental health in relation to urban development it seems that the BELUGA network is well placed to successfully compete for funding.


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The Central Baltic Programme 2014-2020 finances projects in Finland (including Åland), Estonia, Latvia and Sweden, that aim to solve common challenges together and across borders. One area of priority is "Better urban planning in the Central Baltic region" which should include information collection, experience exchange seminars, trainings, guidelines and preparatory activities of environment impact assessments. Obviously, the activities in BELUGA are right on target for this call.

There is also a strong potential for further support for education and training activities within the ERASMUS+ program of the EU. One such project already funded within ERASMUS+ was based on the ENVIROHEALTH network, financed by the Swedish Institute and constituting the predecessor of BELUGA.


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8 Risk analysis Your description should focus on the seed funding project you are applying for. Describe a maximum of ten

(10) risks. Risks associated with corruption are obligatory (see separate table).

The risks might relate to project management and documentation, financial reporting, formal problems, key

people and staff, costs, funding issues, activities, or partners’ and stakeholders’ availability and interests. If

you foresee risks in other areas than those mentioned above, it is important that these risks are also addressed

in the risk analysis below.

How to use the table:

The risk analysis report must be provided using the template below. (Note that the template in grey is only

an example.)

Probabilities and consequences should be assigned a value on a scale of 1-4, with 1 being a low

probability/minor consequence and 4 being a high probability/major consequence. The value of the total risk

is calculated by multiplying the value for the probability by the value for the consequence.

Risk management is required for every risk, project specific and general risk, that have a total risk of at least 6

or when the estimated consequence is 4.

Example

Risk Proba-

bility Conse-

quence Total

risk Risk management Person responsible

Key person leaves the project 2 4 8 Delegate a back-up person for all

key people, create a system for

continuous documentation.

Project leader/all key people

Risks associated with

corruption

Proba-

bility

Conse-

quence

Total


Please describe the risk(s)

here: Funds used for

other purposes than intended

1 4 4 All funds from SI are managed from Sweden, and primarily relate to easily verified travel costs

Göran Pershagen

Other risks

Proba-

bility

Conse-

quence

Total


Applicants lack possibility to engage in network

1 4 4 Back-up persons designated Göran Pershagen

Insufficient interest to participate in network

2 3 6 Spread information to many potential participants

Göran Pershagen

Project management more demanding than anticipated

2 3 6 More resources can be allocated from Karolinska Institutet

Göran Pershagen

Delays in project activities

2 2 4 Careful planning, but some matters impossible to anticipate

Göran Pershagen

Problems in financial or other reporting

1 4 4 Main applicant and his organization is very experienced

Göran Pershagen

0

0


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Other risks

Proba-

bility

Conse-

quence

Total


0

0

0

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Swedish Institute Baltic Sea Cooperation · great challenge to achieve ecologically sustainable city development while minimizing negative consequences for health and the environment