3rd LSP Health Ecosystem Workshop in Brussels: Funding the Future of Skills in Europe’s Health and Care Workforce

On 19 November, members of the BeWell Large-Scale Partnership for the Health Ecosystem gathered in Brussels for their third in-person workshop. The meeting was coordinated by EUREGHA under the Pact for Skills and kindly hosted by the Department of Health Northern Ireland offices.

The Large-Scale Partnership aims to support the twin transition of the health ecosystem by anticipating and addressing the evolving skills needs of the European health and care workforce, in close collaboration with the BeWell consortium.

This third workshop focused on how to fund the future of Europe’s health workforce, with discussions structured around three core themes: exploring funding pathways and opportunities, making funding work in practice, and rethinking funding models for long-term skills development.

Across three panel discussions, participants exchanged views on available funding opportunities, including Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, EU4Health, Digital Europe, Interreg, ESF and private foundations. The exchanges highlighted the continued importance of EU-level funding and coordination to scale upskilling and reskilling initiatives across the health ecosystem.

Participants also reflected on the practical barriers that continue to affect the uptake, impact and continuity of skills-related initiatives. These include high co-funding rates, complex administrative procedures, tight application timelines and unclear criteria around innovation.

The discussion also explored possible ways forward. Participants underlined the need to simplify funding procedures, clarify eligibility and innovation criteria, build stronger synergies between EU and national funds, create an easy-to-navigate funding portal, and improve interoperability and continuity between different funding streams in both the short and long term.

During the meeting, members also reviewed progress on the BeWell Skills Strategy Public Consultation, contributing to the pathway towards the final release of the Strategy in 2026.

The workshop provided an opportunity for members of the Large-Scale Partnership to exchange experiences, identify common challenges and reflect on practical solutions to strengthen Europe’s health and care workforce through more effective and sustainable funding approaches.

More updates on the work of the BeWell Large-Scale Partnership will follow soon.