Since 2013, the European Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) for Active and Healthy Ageing has provided a common ground for regions active in the field. Every three years they have launched a call for reference sites through the European Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA), where the Stavanger Region has participated since 2016.
Last year, in what was the last call of the partnership, the Stavanger Region went all the way to the top, taking four stars home.
– This four stars award is really a recognition of the great work being done in our region when it comes to active and healthy ageing. Through the tight-knit eco system we have in place, academia, public sector, business and most importantly, the citizens, come together to find the best and most innovative solutions, with the ultimate goal of creating sustainable, user-oriented health and care systems, says Runa Monstad, director of the Stavanger Region European Office in Brussels.
A European AHA club
The idea behind the initiative is to emphasize all the good work being done in the European regions when it comes to healthy and active ageing.
Regions who are selected, become part of a European-wide network, consisting of 64 reference sites after the last round.
Only two regions from Norway made it to the top in the last call, the other one being Agder in the South of Norway.
Team effort
The Brussels office coordinated the application processes, bringing the regional health and care stakeholders together. Along with Shalini P. Frøiland from the University of Stavanger, the office wrote the application, which was organized as a two-stage call.
Part of the process was to evaluate the current state of play for the regions eco system for active and healthy ageing.
This process involved participation from academia, primary care, public sector and private businesses.
In addition to the University of Stavanger, the municipality of Stavanger, the Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Stavanger University Hospital and the regional hub, HealthCampus, participated in this process.
Silver linings
Innovation in active and healthy ageing has gained traction throughout the Horizon 2020 and Europe framework programmes and will likely remain a key component of the RSCN legacy, as they cease their operations in 2023.
In early 2023, the Horizon Europe partnership in Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS) will be launched. Ensuring the transition towards a more sustainable, resilient, innovative and high quality, people-centered health care systems is the ultimate goal of the new partnership.
Horizon Europe is otherwise offering calls such as the Silver Deal, which is being launched in January, focusing on quality long-term care, with the elderly in mind.