Photo Riku Lumiaro.
Finnish competence in identifying the health-promoting effects of nature has raised international interest. An indication of this is the international workshop on the relationship between biodiversity and human health to be held for invited participants in Vuosaari, Helsinki, on 23–25 October 2017.
The relationship between nature and human health has recently received much attention around the world.
Being in nature has been shown to prevent many diseases and to speed up recovery. Nature activities reduce blood pressure and invigorate a distressed mind.
About 60–70 decision-makers and specialists in the health and environmental sector have been invited from Europe and Asia to the workshop to be held in Finland in October. The people invited to the workshop also include representatives of developing countries and native peoples. Specialists from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment and Health are expected to attend the conference.
The aim of the workshop is to strengthen cooperation between national agencies and institutions working with biodiversity and health in order to promote the implementation of the Strategic Plan for 2011–2020 of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the related so-called Aichi Targets and sustainable development goals.
The conference will deal, for example, with the relationship between the implementation of the CBD and human health and with the best practices in integrating biodiversity and health issues into both international and regional nature conservation programmes and strategies of the health sector.
The regional capacity-building workshop on biodiversity and human health for the Europe Region will be organized by the international CBD in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Finnish organizers of the workshop include the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, including the expert institutions under them, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to the Ministries of Finland, the conference is financially supported by the European Commission. Technical assistance is provided by the European Centre for Environment and Health.
Further information
Jukka-Pekka Jäppinen, Development Manager, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 (0)295 251 235, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
Anni-Riitta Virolainen-Julkunen, Ministerial Counsellor for Health/Medical Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 (0)295 163 324, anni-riitta.virolainen-julkunen@stm.fi
Marina von Weissenberg, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 (0)295 250 321, firstname.lastname@ym.fi
Website of the Convention of Biological Diversity