A new CEN Workshop is being planned as part of the activities of the EU project 'Caring Nature'. This project focuses its energies of developing solutions for reducing the impact of our healthcare systems on the environment.
Although its focus is on helping people toward better health, healthcare services have not always paid attention to the environmental cost of the care they provide. A significant amount of GHG emissions can be attributed to this sector, and this is expected to grow in the years ahead. Projects such as Caring Nature play an important role therefore in trying to ameliorate this situation. The three-year collaboration between Universities, SMEs and industry healthcare providers is tasked with contributing to lowering the carbon footprint by 'reducing the environmental impact of buildings, waste and patients’ travel'; and 'increasing governance capability and staff engagement towards this reduction' (caringnature.eu).
The proposed CEN workshop fits well into this search for more environmentally sustainable solutions for the healthcare sector. The focus is on telehealth services: using technology effectively to deliver quality healthcare which translates into increasing access, reducing the need for in-person visits, and enabling safe and continuous patient monitoring.
In this context, the workshop will focus on addressing key issues in the adoption of telemedicine in healthcare settings. It will seek to establish standardized eligibility criteria, assure long-term sustainability, and provide structured training guidance which can be used by healthcare professionals.
The resulting CWA will be an important step forward in the development of a more coherent framework that supports the ongoing technological development in the area of health services. By concentrating on the seamless integration of telemedicine into existing health care systems, it will contribute to improved health outcomes and increased accessibility in a broader sense, creating a structured approach that will benefit patients, healthcare professionals, and ultimately the environment.
The kick-off meeting for the Workshop will be an online meeting on 20th May 2026 from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm (CEST).
All interested parties are invited to submit comments on the draft Project Plan using the commenting form below, to the Workshop Secretary, Merten Schmidt (merten.schmidt@din.de), by 15th May, 2026.
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