Health Bridge
Health Bridge: Building Regional Capacity for Health Diplomacy and Resilient Health Systems in Eastern Europe (funded by the Swedish Institute)
Project duration: 10.2025 – 09.2027
Contact person from NULES: Dr Kostyantyn Balashov
Project goal: Addressing health challenges requires political negotiation, multisectoral cooperation, and knowledge-sharing. Health Bridge strengthens the intersection of global health and international relations by advancing health diplomacy capacity across Eastern Europe and the Baltic region.
By connecting academic institutions in the region, Health Bridge will help foster cooperation and strengthen the health systems of participating countries, ultimately contributing to the health and well-being of citizens and a safer region.
Objectives
1. Ukraine’s system strengthening: Strengthen health diplomacy expertise among Ukrainian academics and policymakers, and integrate lessons from Ukraine’s crisis- driven health system innovations into broader regional frameworks.
2. Network and platform building: Establish the Health Diplomacy Institutional Network for Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea Region and connect it with the GHDN.
3. Capacity building: Equip universities and PhD students with the health diplomacy knowledge through a series of online seminars and an on-site workshop.
4. Knowledge and policy influence: Identify priority health diplomacy challenges, adapt key global competencies to regional contexts, to inform policy dialogue.
5. Awareness and engagement: Strengthen cross-sectoral dialogue with ministries, NGOs, and healthcare institutions, promoting evidence-based diplomacy for health resilience.
Objectives
1. Ukraine’s system strengthening: Strengthen health diplomacy expertise among Ukrainian academics and policymakers, and integrate lessons from Ukraine’s crisis- driven health system innovations into broader regional frameworks.
2. Network and platform building: Establish the Health Diplomacy Institutional Network for Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea Region and connect it with the GHDN.
3. Capacity building: Equip universities and PhD students with the health diplomacy knowledge through a series of online seminars and an on-site workshop.
4. Knowledge and policy influence: Identify priority health diplomacy challenges, adapt key global competencies to regional contexts, to inform policy dialogue.
5. Awareness and engagement: Strengthen cross-sectoral dialogue with ministries, NGOs, and healthcare institutions, promoting evidence-based diplomacy for health resilience.
Applicant: Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)