[Ourania Kotsiou]

Dear Colleagues,

I am contacting you on behalf of the Department of Nursing, University of Thessaly, Greece, regarding your project concept for Interreg Euro-MED Call 8 – Green Living Areas.

I am Dr Ourania S. Kotsiou, Pulmonologist and Associate Professor of Human Pathophysiology–Pulmonology, and Director of the Human Pathophysiology Laboratory at the University of Thessaly.

We found your concept particularly interesting, especially its focus on climate-resilient green public spaces, sensory environments, vulnerable population groups, community engagement and intergenerational use.

We believe that the University of Thessaly could complement your pilot activities by providing a strong health and wellbeing assessment dimension. Our Department has multidisciplinary expertise in health sciences, public and community health, respiratory and environmental health, vulnerable populations, health promotion and applied clinical research.

In particular, we could contribute to:

development of health and wellbeing KPIs;

assessment of perceived wellbeing, thermal comfort and quality of life;

evaluation of potential respiratory and environmental-health benefits;

specific assessment of older people and other vulnerable groups;

evaluation of environmental parameters in relation to health and wellbeing;

pre/post evaluation of the pilot interventions; and

capacity-building and community health-promotion activities.

This could allow the project not only to demonstrate that the interventions create greener and more climate-resilient public spaces, but also to provide measurable evidence of their potential impact on human health, wellbeing and quality of life.

We would be very interested in exploring cooperation with the Tourist Board Novigrad Sea Area and the participating municipalities and discussing how the University of Thessaly could join the emerging consortium as a research and health partner.

We would be pleased to arrange a short online meeting in the coming days to discuss the project concept and potential roles.

Kind regards,

Ourania S. Kotsiou, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Human Pathophysiology–Pulmonology
Director, Human Pathophysiology Laboratory
Department of Nursing
University of Thessaly, Greece