HEPRO

Did You Know?

• HEPRO aimed to integrate health considerations into spatial planning and development.
• Strong emphasis was given to empowerment, including equity, participatory governance, and solidarity.
• The project aimed to contribute to a sustainable public health policy in Europe.

Results

Among the project's results were the HEPRO planning model, the HEPRO survey model, a questionnaire answered by 33000 respondents in the Baltic Sea Region, an interactive webpage, and a database of results for future research. The HEPRO planning model is a systematic six-step approach arranged as a planning circle; because policymaking is continuous, the steps do not need to follow a fixed order, and implementation of one activity can occur alongside efforts to place other activities on the political agenda. HEPRO was regarded as a territorial and cross-sectorial planning approach that sought political power to improve living conditions and as an institution-building process, with the intention that communities would gain better capacity to lead themselves, focus on challenges, organise, and learn from experience. The EUROHEPRO survey in 2006 included questions on issues influencing health and well-being, from individual health risks to social environment and socioeconomic status. The conceptual framework, called the HEPRO model, is described as a broad social, physical, and spatial health concept where health and well-being were viewed as more than the absence of disease and illness, with its main focus on health as defined by professional actors, citizens, and other important actors.