Urban Health Centres Europe

From the 27th  to the 29th of June 2016, the City of Rotterdam and three leading networks of the European authorities working in social care: European Network for Social Authorities (ENSA), European Local Inclusion and Social Action Network (ELISAN), and the Youth Care Platform had the pleasure of hosting the conference: “Innovation in care: better chances and opportunities for all citizens”.

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The conference, opened by the Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, sought to tackle challenges in health care services worldwide due to the changing social structure. The first day was a general introduction of the conference with guest speakers from ENSA, ELISAN, the Council of Europe and the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Network. The two keynote speakers were Professor Robbert Huijsman from the Erasmus University explaining innovation and Mr. Casey Gwinn from HOPE International focusing on integrated care. At the end there was an inspiring visit to the Erasmus Medical Centre, a leading research center in Europe. In the evening, a dinner was hosted by the Vice-Mayor of Rotterdam Mr. Hugo de Jonge in the City Hall.

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The second day consisted of workshops and field visits at numerous sites across Rotterdam to actively engage in discovering innovative practices and policies in healthcare. There were working groups on elderly and disabled care, youth and social inclusion. The second evening was concluded with a dinner on the Spido with a boat trip on the river Maas. The last day focused on the TRIADE project which is a partnership that aims to share evidence-based VET practices to improve care in the disabled and the elderly.

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With more 150 participants, numerous influential speakers, many one-on-one discussions, innovation pitches and interactive field visits, the conference was truly a place to discover new opportunities for collaboration and get inspired by developments in health care delivery and policies.