System-wide Collaboration for Sustainable Material Flows in Health Care

Important results from the project

The project achieved its goals by mapping material flows in healthcare, identifying key barriers and opportunities, and developing a knowledge base for a future implementation project. The work showed that the main challenges are systemic and relate to governance, responsibilities, digital support systems and ways of working. The project also strengthened shared understanding between the regions and academia, and highlighted the need for more integrated, data-driven and circular material flows.

Expected long term effects

The project is expected to contribute to more sustainable, efficient and resilient material flows in healthcare. In the long term, the results can support improved governance, reduced waste, increased circularity and more data-driven ways of working. The project may also strengthen collaboration between regions, academia and healthcare operations, and provide a basis for scalable solutions in a future implementation project.

Approach and implementation

The project was carried out through a current-state mapping, interviews with key individuals, two regional workshops, analysis of ongoing initiatives, and a literature study. The approach provided a broad understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to material flows. Collaboration between the regions and academia functioned as intended, and the activities were largely implemented according to plan.