Circular economy in healthcare services

Why is the current economic system failing, despite all its promises? Moving towards a circular economy, yes... but that's not all! So what kind of economy will bring us back within planetary boundaries? The path to transformation can be punctuated with false good ideas, which Prof. Christian Arnsperger will help us identify.

We will then focus more specifically on the subject of health. A healthy population is a goal that must guide the transformation, but how can a transformation be achieved within the healthcare system itself (which is disproportionately resource-intensive, even though it accounts for only a small part of our overall health)? Dr. Timo Falkenberg will propose a "framework for Health Sufficiency". Based on the Doughnut model, his research explores the founding principles of a healthcare system that operates within planetary boundaries.

We will end this session by diving into the functioning of hospitals and their supply chains, with the ESCH-R project led by Dr. Nicole Hunfeld. In the Netherlands, the ‘Evidence-based Strategies to create Circular Hospitals: Applying the 10-Rs framework to healthcare’ research project aims to document and pave the way for optimizing the use of raw materials in hospitals. This large-scale project brings together stakeholders from academia, social partners, the medtech industry, and government.