BUILDING CAPACITY THROUGH SOCIAL INNOVATION TOWARDS IMPROVING AND SUSTAINING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING IN COMMUNITIES

Health and well-being of citizens is of high priority on the social political agenda in Kosovo and Russia, as it is in the EU. However, the quality of health and social care systems in the two regions is often insufficient and, equally as in most European countries, jeopardized for sustainability.This leads to a pressing need to change the underlying systems and improve the quality. An important part of this change encompasses the manner of current education, the collaboration of health and well-being professionals, and research and innovation strategies to bridge this gap.The SUSWELL project modernizes health curricula of higher education institutes (HEI) from Pristina, Gjakova, Perm, St. Petersburg and Belgorod. It builds capacity through social innovation in order to improve and sustain health and well-being at community level.For it, SUSWELL is determined by an open, impact-driven multi-sector and multi-stakeholder approach of communities of practice (COP). These local COP seek for learning partnerships between HEI, non-for-profit representatives, businesses, public authorities, students and citizens. The outcomes of the local COP are co-created new solutions and practices that determine and lead to the development of innovative continuous professional development courses. These are aligned with European qualification standards and sustainably implemented in 5 HEI in Kosovo and Russia.SUSWELL is composed of 9 HEI and 6 social stakeholder organisations from 7 European countries who are embracing the complexity of health systems and accepting the need of co-creation to allow for social change. Other than traditional health initiatives, the consortium recognise the need for interaction of stakeholders across systems, professions and disciplines.SUSWELL will build increased institutional capacity of the targeted HEI, enhanced individual capacity of (future) health and well-being professionals, and greater social capacity in the related 5 local communities.