From now and throughout the spring of 2024, Design for Government students will cooperate in two projects with the Finnish ministries and public services. The first project will focus on the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of the Environment’s Exploring A Policy Coherence Approach in Biodiversity, and the second will work on the Exploring Continuity of Care model with Kela and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Mainstreaming Biodiversity:
Exploring A Policy Coherence Approach
Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of the Environment
The EU LIFE biodiversity project is an eight-year funding mechanism to combat biodiversity loss in Finland. The Prime Minister’s Office’s goal is to develop cooperation between ministries to ensure that biodiversity issues are incorporated better into policy-making. There is a lack of policy coherence in the current siloed approach to biodiversity, which leads to uncoordinated action and ineffective policies. The Prime Minister’s Office wants to explore policy coherence as a new cross-ministry approach to tackle biodiversity and create an equal ownership and collaborative all-government approach to biodiversity.
Main questions:
- What are the Ministry’s agendas and understanding of Biodiversity?
- How can VNK support a policy coherence model?
- What tools are needed to sustain policy coherence and collaborative practices at all levels of public administration?
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Image source: https://ym.fi/
Towards a better healthcare system:
Exploring Continuity of Care as a new Kela reimbursement model
Kela and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
The Finnish healthcare system is burdened by long lines and unequal access to care, with rising costs and a need for improvement. Kela, the national social insurance institution, is exploring a revised patient reimbursement model that aims to encourage continuity of care, improve availability and equal access to healthcare services, and reduce costs. Incentives could be a key component of this model. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is also exploring a new “Personal Doctor” (Omalääkäri) model used in other countries. The success of these initiatives will require collaboration and changes at different levels, including new funding mechanisms and approaches to testing and implementation.
Main questions:
- How do different actors involved (doctors, customers, officials) perceive what is the ideal outcome? What are the barriers?
- What incentives will create the desired behaviours? How should the reimbursement model work to support the right behaviours?
Image source: https://stm.fi/
If you want to find out more about the design process or the tools we use during the course, you can check previous coursework and upcoming updates on our blog.