Our Business Development Manager Chris Bailey was recently made an honorary member of the Green Health Wales Advisory Board.
Green Health Wales is a network of health and care professionals across Wales who recognise that the climate and ecological emergency is a health emergency. It was formed to inspire practitioners, equipping them with resources and links with like-minded people. By connecting, educating, and transforming healthcare services, the network hopes to achieve sustainable healthcare that protects the health of people and the planet – because we can’t have one without the other.
Chris is the National Honorary Lead for ‘Active Buildings, Renewable Energy and Biophilic Design’. As part of a team of Leads covering different specialisms, Chris will support the steering of nationally identified projects that will help NHS staff to deliver a net zero NHS.
Projects supported by Green Health Wales range from rewilding hospital grounds to creating an online circular economy tool for repurposing equipment and supplies. For example, Chris has supported the investigation of active travel among practitioners and patients through network building and developing data on active travel routes correlated against GP surgeries. He has also been applying for collaborative research funding which links health and net zero.
Collaborative funding: Health benefits of net zero
UKRI and NIHR are co-funding a competition called ‘Realising the Health Co-Benefits of Net Zero‘. The competition will fund five or more national research hubs investigating health impacts and outcomes across five challenge areas:
- Indoor environments in a Net Zero world
- Transportation and the built environment
- Sustainable health diets
- Extreme weather
- Decarbonising health and social care pathways
Green Health Wales represents the perfect forum through which to engage with practitioners on these issues. Swansea University, SPECIFIC IKC and Green Health Wales members are therefore developing a consortium to apply to this funding. Furthermore, SPECIFIC’s knowledge of next generation smart buildings and renewable technologies means we are well placed to support a bid. We can share more as this develops.
Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to know more about SPECIFIC, Green Health Wales, collaborative research funding, or how we can support your organisation to explore how decarbonised technology solutions can work for you.