The third edition of the Health-Environment Data Community took place on Friday, March 15, 2024, bringing together local stakeholders, researchers, and health-environment innovation actors. The event showcased research projects and new innovative initiatives and perspectives for better mobilization and enhancement of environmental data in the service of health-environment. 120 participants gathered in person and remotely for the event, featuring 22 different speakers.
A strong reaffirmation of the health-environment issue by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion
The Minister Christophe Béchu opened the day by reminding us that “the use of data in environmental health is our compass for steering our public policies.” Amélie Coantic, Deputy Director at the General Commissioner for Sustainable Development, then spoke, particularly emphasizing the importance of data, “a precious asset to inform our public policies and produce new knowledge,” and recalled the contribution of the Health-Environment Data Community to “bring forth ideas, incubate solutions, accelerate partnerships, …”.
Academic interventions to reflect on the key role of health-environment within the societal model
Eloi Laurent, an economist and researcher at Sciences Po, presented during a reflective conference the concept of “full health”, which he defines as “a continuous state of well-being: physical and psychological, individual and social, human and ecological”[1]. Resituating health-environment within a holistic health approach, he reminded us of the importance of considering the vulnerability of populations, the significance of social relationships, as well as the health of ecosystems.
In order to consider environmental and health challenges in the impact assessment process, Didier Blanchet, Research Associate at Paris School of Economics, also shared his thoughts on the choice of indicators that provide an overall view of the effects of climate transition. The issue of evaluating the impact of public action on health was then illustrated by Mathilde Pascal, scientific project manager at Public Health France, through a conference on quantitative evaluations of health impacts (EQIS).
A presentation of the latest news from Green Data for Health (CGDD/Ecolab)
The day also allowed for an update on the latest news from Green Data for Health (GD4H), the service offer around which the Health-Environment Data Community has gradually consolidated. The new features of the online platform (https://gd4h.ecologie.gouv.fr/) were presented on this occasion, along with various projects that have emerged in connection with GD4H.
First, the four award-winning research projects from the 1st edition of the Green Data for Health (CGDD) call for projects and the Health Data Hub were presented in plenary. The follow-ups to the challenges of the GD4H Challenge that took place in 2023 were also the subject of 5 interventions, illustrating the sustainability of multiple initiatives launched within this open innovation framework.
The territorialization of the health-environment issue: inspiring initiatives in the territories
In the context of launching the 4th Regional Health-Environment Plans (PRSE4), inspiring initiatives from the territories were also presented: the Syndémie project and the local health contract of Nice Côte d’Azur, as well as the conclusions of the local health observation working group led by the French Network of Health Cities WHO.
The recently launched call for expressions of interest by ADEME and Ecolab (CGDD), the “Expé URBA SanTé“, was also presented. This unique initiative aims to enable the emergence of effective actions in the territories through data to boost ecological transition and good health.
By sharing these various perspectives and innovative initiatives, this 3rd edition of the Health-Environment Data Community once again helped to stimulate synergies between environment and health, as well as between research and public action.
[1] Laurent, É. (2023). Toward Social-Ecological Well-Being. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38989-4