An improvement in health care conditions is vital from the point of view of the citizens’ quality of life. As society ages, so the demand for health care services will increase, and this will mainly affect care of the elderly, bed-ridden and chronically ill. Attention should also be concentrated on lifestyle diseases and the so-called diseases of affluence, and those which have the greatest effect on ability to work, and on their prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. Podlaskie Voivodeship has major potential in this field in the form of the Medical University of Białystok, which may be included to ensure high quality medical services in the region. At the same time, full use of natural attributes should be aimed for, as a way of developing sanatoria and rehabilitation treatments. Other priorities should be measures geared towards shaping the environments of life, science and
education, work and leisure in such a way as to enable the citizens to create and increase health potential and eliminating risk factors which threaten health. A multisector
understanding of this question, with the involvement of government, local government and non-government institutions and local communities, is vital.
Acknowledging the leading role of government administration in measures connected with public safety, as one of the duties of the state, the assistance of government administration in this field will be of key importance, as will initiatives serving to activate mechanisms and instruments ensuring greater integration and better coordination of activities in this sphere. Improvement of road and rail transport safety will be the subject of particular attention.
Main directions of intervention:
n Improving the efficiency of the voivodeship’s health care system n Shaping a pro-health lifestyle
n Increasing the efficiency of public safety and lifesaving institutions and services
OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVE 3.4. PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND
RATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF ITS RESOURCES
Development of the economy always involves use of natural resources, but most resources are either limited or else take a long time to renew. Protection and rational use of resources, including space, is thus a priority in the context of providing future generations with access to them. Effective use of resources is also important for economic and geostrategic reasons. The production models currently applied have a detrimental effect on the natural environment (especially on air, water and soil quality, as well as on biodiversity), and on human health and quality of life. It is thus necessary to change to resource-saving development, rationalisation of the use of environmental resources and properly considered compensatory measures. A healthy natural environment is as important for quality of life as the state of the economy or social factors.
The generally good condition of the region’s natural environment does not free it from concern for the environment or from its duty to prevent conditions or events which have a negative influence on biological diversity. Protection of the landscape is also one of the most important actions undertaken within spatial planning.
Out of concern for an increase in available good quality water resources for the purposes of society and the economy, the best possible treatment of household and industrial wastewater should be aimed for, as should the propagation of changes in the way
drainage areas are managed in order to decrease the danger of water being contaminated from dispersed (agricultural) sources. Particularly intensive efforts should be directed towards the most effective possible protection of main reservoirs of underground water and areas from which underground and surface waters are drawn. Effective water management should result in maintenance of the necessary amount of water resources and remove or alleviate any threat from their lack or surfeit. Assistance in this field should be aimed particularly at the use of ecological engineering. Investments connected with sewage treatment will be supported, including systems for collecting municipal waste, construction of purification plants, improvement of the parameters of existing plants and support for disposal of sewage sediment. The expansion of individual sewage purification systems will be encouraged in areas which are not densely built-up, especially in rural areas.
The main sources of pollution in Podlaskie Voivodeship are urban and industrial heating stations, dispersed emission sources from the public housing sector, and transport pollution. Pro-development policies will be concentrated around limiting emissions of Protection and rational
use of resources, including space, is thus a priority in the context of providing future generations with access to them
air pollution from power production and road transport, including greenhouse gases and dust, and the popularisation of technologies which increase the efficiency of energy production and consumption.
The aim of sustainable waste management is to protect the environment and human health by preventing and reducing the negative effects of waste processing and disposal and, indirectly, an improvement in the efficiency of using the environment’s non- renewable resources. Realisation of the objective set in this way requires a gradual abandoning of waste storage systems in favour of processing and recovering raw materials, and active utilisation of waste products. A priority direction for investment is implementation of selective municipal waste collection which will cover all the
voivodeship’s citizens and organisations. Another aim should be a reduction in inefficient local waste dumps and support for low-waste production technologies and effective recycling, reprocessing, neutralising and recovery technologies. All organic municipal waste and waste from the food industry should be disposed of for energy.
A major direction for action will be support for energy efficiency, including by using renewable energy sources in public buildings and in the housing sector, and with regard to public infrastructure such as lighting. Revitalisation in the public sector and housing will contribute to transformation of urban space. An important question in the coming years will also be striving towards spatial order, the necessity to limit conflicts arising from development processes while retaining the local cultural and environmental identity.
Main directions of intervention:
n Ecological education and increased environmental activity of the community n Protection of air, soil, water and other resources
n Effective waste-management system
n Low-emission economy (including energy efficiency)
n Protection of natural resources and beauty, and the recreation and renaturalization of degraded ecosystems.
External zones (6 or 7 criteria) cores