BARMER – URBAN SusHealth

The World Health Organisation classifies climate change as one of the greatest health threats of the 21st century. The effects of climate change on human health are manifold. Extreme weather events, air pollution and the increasing frequency of hot summers are resulting in ever greater health impairments. This places a particular burden on vulnerable groups, such as children and low-income population groups, the chronically ill and the elderly. Effective climate protection and climate adaptation measures are therefore essential for protecting the health of the population. Local authorities in Germany fulfil central tasks in the provision of services of general interest and are key players in adapting to climate change. At the same time, they are not yet sufficiently prepared for the implications of climate change on health. It is therefore essential to consider the current state of research from the perspective of a triad (health promotion and prevention, climate and environmental protection, consideration of equal health opportunities) in municipalities, to identify the need for action and to derive concrete measures. 

This is where the pilot project "BARMER - URBAN SusHealth" comes in, which is being carried out by the Wuppertal Institute in cooperation with BARMER. In the first phase, the project aims to determine the current state of research, identify existing concepts, measures and examples of good practice and summarise them in a report. The report will also outline initial ideas for municipal interventions. In the second phase, an explorative and co-creative inventory of existing services, initiatives and measures in the respective municipalities will be carried out within real-world interventions in selected municipalities. An analysis of local health and climate data is also planned.

Building on this, local prevention and intervention strategies will be developed and implemented under the scientific supervision of researchers from the Wuppertal Institute, and the effects will be documented and evaluated. The necessary real-world interventions that emerge in the course of the project can, for example, focus on redesigning street spaces, increasing active mobility, expanding the proportion of green spaces, allotments, recreational and sports areas in urban spaces as well as unsealing. In addition, as part of the lifestyle-related health promotion process, appropriate behavioural and situational prevention measures that are important in the context of climate change are also taken into account for each municipality. The focus is on raising awareness and developing and expanding the skills of all those involved in the municipality.