Knut Inge Klepp and Linda Granlund: It’s important to find ways to build a community
With more than 1,600 health care professionals, scientists and public health experts involved, both JACARDI and JA PreventNCD recognize the necessity of fostering and building a strong sense of community and collaboration. According to the coordinators of JA PreventNCD, Knut Inge Klepp and Linda Granlund, building that sense of unity is no small feat, but is essential to make the most of the extraordinary investment and collective effort to tackle non-communicable diseases across Europe. In this conversation, the two coordinators explore the opportunities presented by this unprecedented joint commitment to prevention and the challenges of coordinating such large-scale projects.
What does JACARDI mean to you personally and to JA PreventNCD?
Knut Inge Klepp: There are so many synergies and so many opportunities for collaboration. It’s really useful to be able to work closely with the coordination team at JACARDI. Having colleagues you can share your victories and challenges with strengthens us as a team.
Linda Granlund: I agree with Knut Inge. Working closely with JACARDI is incredibly valuable for us, both as coordinators and as collaborators. It allows us to discuss details, but also to make sure that we avoid any overlap. On a personal note, I have lived with type 1 diabetes for 42 years, so staying informed about the developments in this field is not only professionally important but also deeply relevant to me.
Thank you for sharing! As Dr. Gauden Galea of WHO Europe explained at the Synergy meeting in Brussels this autumn (Strengthening NCD Monitoring Systems in the EU: A Collaborative Approach), after the COVID pandemic, the momentum for prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases was lost and the focus shifted to other areas of public health. How do you see the situation now?
Knut Inge Klepp: Well, we have these two joint actions, where the European Commission and the Member States have combined their efforts together, along with the smaller action grants. In total, almost 200 million euros are on the table. I think that reflects a significant turning point. Moving forward, our focus will be on making the best use of the substantial financial support, human capital and political commitment behind these projects.
Linda Granlund: When the Commissioner emphasized this focus, it signaled a significant shift, underscored by strong engagement and active involvement from Member States. With 21 countries participating in JACARDI and 25 in JA Prevent, it’s clear that these nations are committing substantial effort and resources to support our work.
How do you maintain focus while providing flexibility for task leaders and experts?
Linda Granlund: It’s important, to refer back to the background documents, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Healthier Together initiative. These provide essential guidance amid the many details of the project, work packages, tasks and subtasks. Without anchoring our efforts to these overarching goals, it’s easy to lose focus.
Knut Inge Klepp: First and foremost, it’s important to recognize that this is a significant challenge and we are fully committed to addressing it. Building on what Linda mentioned, our main objective is to ensure that our work aligns with the background documents. We regularly review these objectives and ask work package leaders, task leaders, subtask leaders and even pilot leaders to reflect on how their efforts contribute to the overall objectives. This ongoing process ensures that we are constantly reminded of what we are working towards and what we want to achieve.
Coordinating a project of this scale requires resilience, flexibility, bulletproof management and scientific rigor. What has been the most unexpected challenge you have faced so far in your first year, requiring you to think outside of the box?
Knut Inge Klepp: There are many challenges. One thing we’ve focused on recently is realizing that while we have frequent contact with a smaller group of work package leaders and maybe the task leaders and so on, there are probably between 500 and 1,000 people involved in this project – many of whom we haven’t met personally. We’ve interacted with a lot of them on screen, but it’s also important to find ways to build community, ownership of the project and a common culture. And that is also something that you are very consciously working on within JACARDI.
Linda Granlund: We have talked a lot about the different cultures involved when you have 25 countries working together. Finding a common tone is very important. How do we talk about the project? What do we emphasize? This process takes time, especially as the people involved come from different backgrounds, even if some share similar expertise.
Your dedication to creating a more health-promoting environment in Europe is well reflected in your work with a Youth Advisory Group. In your vision, what’s the NCD issue you envision for them to have to solve when you hand over the future?
Knut Inge Klepp: I started working on my first international non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention project in 1979. That was 45 years ago. Looking back, 30 years seems like a pretty short time. The scale and the context are different, but it’s striking that some of the issues we’re dealing with are quite similar. I think one of the values of this youth panel is their ability to bring a perspective that is grounded in their reality. In terms of health issues, we are seeing the convergence of NCDs with mental health and infectious diseases. The pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of people with underlying NCDs to infectious diseases. Addressing these interconnected challenges is something that today’s young people will have to deal with, even as we continue to work towards solutions in the present.
Linda Granlund: I think when we hand over the results in four or five years, we’ll have an understanding of that. Collaboration across sectors is essential, as we now focus on addressing the underlying factors that contribute to preventing NCDs. These are primarily related to the health care system, but we need to involve the other sectors more, such as the school sector, the transport sector, and create a mutual understanding of why they need to be involved and in what capacity. With the support of the EU Commission, this approach will benefit all the countries involved.
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Linda Granlund is the Division Director for Public Health at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, a role she has held since 2015. With over 20 years of experience, she has led initiatives to improve public health and nutrition. Previously, Linda worked in roles including Director of Health and Nutrition at a Norwegian food company that produces and markets some of the country’s most well-known and beloved food products, where she advanced projects to promote healthier eating. Linda also served as Vice Chair of Diabetesforbundet, the Norwegian Diabetes Association, advocating for better diabetes care. Her expertise spans health policy, nutrition, and public health advocacy.
Knut Inge Klepp is the Executive Director of the Division of Mental and Physical Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He has had an extensive career in public health, previously serving as the Director General of Public Health at the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Klepp is also an adjunct professor at the University of Oslo. His academic focus includes adolescent nutrition, obesity prevention, and nutrition policy. He has led numerous EU research projects, has published over 250 papers in peer reviewed journals and contributed significantly to international health initiatives, including WHO’s efforts to reduce non-communicable diseases.
Learn more about Knut Inge Klepp and his work here and connect on LinkedIn here.