Tekaisu

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This page describes Tekaisu-project. A draft of the Tekaisu-method can be found from op_fi:Ympäristöstä aiheutuvien terveyshaittojen arviointi (in Finnish) and the detailed implementation plan of the Tekaisu-project (in Finnish) can be found from op_fi:Keskustelu:Ympäristöstä aiheutuvien terveyshaittojen arviointi.

TEKAISU (assessment of environmental health impacts into all planning and policy making) is a three year project (2012-2015), aiming to invoke such a change in societal decision making practices that environmental health knowledge and assessments (particularly open data and open assessments) would become systematically used as an intrinsic part of decision making. The project name Tekaisu refers to the fact that assessment of health impacts for the purpose of assisting e.g. municipal planning should not take months, but instead be quickly made, while still providing useful and scientifically sound knowledge to support the decision processes taking place within tight schedules. Tekaisu is a part of the social and health enterprise architecture work according to the Act on Information Management Governance in Public Administration. Enterprise architecture is a management system, which focuses on converging actions and knowledge.

Summary of the project:

• Name of the project: TEKAISU
• Project coordinator: Jouni Tuomisto, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
• Duration of the project: 2012-2015
• Project participants: THL, Social and health ministry, Nordem Oy, City of Kuopio, potentially also other municipalities.

The aim of Tekaisu is to invoke such a change in societal decision making practices that environmental health knowledge and assessments (particularly open data and open assessments) would become systematically used as an intrinsic part of decision making. In order to achieve this main goal, there are five partial goals and corresponding work packages:

• 1) To develop knowledge based decision making and its theory (WP1),
• 2) To prioritize actions to promote environmental health (WP2),
• 3) To implement knowledge and tools for environmental health impact assessment into practice (WP3),
• 4) To evaluate current legislation, its implementation and development needs in light of the main goal (WP4),
• 5) To initiate development of practical policy making through pilot-cases as well as broader development projects in later stages (WP5).

In order to achieve these partial goals the work packages will take up following tasks:

• WP1 maps and develops practices of knowledge-based decision making and tests them in practical policy making. Work will take place in collaboration with the City of Kuopio and later also other participants.
• WP2 assesses environmental health impacts in Finland and prioritizes actions for their mitigation. The work is based on the other hand on scientific health impact assessment by experts in THL in collaboration with other social and health research institutes (SOTERKO), on the other hand on the mapping and pricing of possible mitigation actions.
• WP3 produces practical supporting information and assessment tools and tests and teaches their use in practical municipal decision making cases that are in preparation during 2012. Based on this experience they will be further developed. The work is based on the information and tools (e.g. http://fi.opasnet.org) that has already been developed in THL during the recent years. The most important supporting materials will be a manuscript for a general book on open knowledge-based practices in policy making and a partial description of the social and health field enterprise architecture.
• WP4 evaluates the effectiveness of current legislation and its implementation from the point of view of health protection and management. The evaluation will be done in a collaboration between ministries and is seen as a part of the general development of administration. Making use of this information (e.g. evaluation of the EIA legislation) is an important part of this project.
• WP5 makes use of the knowledge and methods provided by other work packages and implements health impact assessment into the practices of societal decision making in Finland. The actual work of this work package will begin during 2013.

As concrete outcomes the project will deliver a manuscript for generalized book on open knowledge-based practices in policy making; two articles in the Finnish Ympäristö ja terveys (Environment and health) journal and one article in a scientific journal; an updated description the major environmental health problems in Finland; practice descriptions of knowledge-based societal decision making and its evaluation; and a partial description of the environmental health management enterprise architecture.

On the background for this project, there are two tasks mentioned in the government program, which support each other and constitute one entity within this project: the health protection program (terveydensuojeluohjelma) covering work packages 2 and 3 as well as a part of work package 1; and including assessment of adverse environmental health impacts in all planing and policy making (ympäristöstä aiheutuvien terveyshaittojen arvioinnin ottaminen osaksi kaikkea suunnittelua ja päätöksentekoa) covering work packages 1, 4 and 5. The project name Tekaisu refers to the fact that assessment of health impacts for the purpose of assisting e.g. municipal planning should not take months, but instead be quickly made, while still providing useful and scientifically sound knowledge to support the decision processes taking place within tight schedules.

See also

• op_fi:Tekaisu (in Finnish)
• op_fi:Ympäristöstä aiheutuvien terveyshaittojen arviointi (in Finnish)
• op_fi:Keskustelu:Ympäristöstä aiheutuvien terveyshaittojen arviointi (in Finnish)