Health and light
The Drammen region of Norway is home to unique expertise on the subject area of light and the effect of light on health. The departments of Buskerud University College represented by the study branches for health studies, optometry and light design are key players in all the sub-projects. Buskerud Hospital also has important departments that contribute to the research section of the programme.
By making use of regional cutting-edge expertise, the Health and Light Arena shall create a new value chain across industries.
Increase in elderly citizens
Health and Light wants to focus particularly on employees and the elderly. Both groups have a significant need for a novel approach and innovation in the area of lighting. The coming increase in the number of elderly citizens will put a strain on society. The need to put preventative measures in place that will enable more elderly people to live at home for as long as possible and the need to optimise hospital treatment will increase.
Working environment
The Health and Light Arena also wants to focus on workplace lighting. One consequence of the coming increase in the numbers of pensioners is a decrease in the total labour force. This will entail additional demands with regards to efficiency. The use of lighting in the place where we spend the majority of the day's waking hours greatly impacts our health and efficiency. The Health and Light Arena will investigate how light affects us and develop certified health and light facilities.
Light is something that affects us all and we know that light is an important factor for both our physical and mental health. In a society where most people spend the largest part of the day indoors it seems paradoxical that light planning is often included as an afterthought in the construction process and that few formal requirements exist with regards to lighting.
The Drammen region of Norway is home to unique expertise on the subject area of light and the effect of light on health. Health and Light aims to use this region’s cutting-edge expertise to create a competitive business cluster across sectors. Another goal is to establish a Nordic centre of expertise within the field of health and light.
By sharing information we can gain a head start into the future.
Health and Light is a project within the Norwegian Arena program which is administered by Innovation Norway together with the Norwegian Research Council and the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (SIVA).
English 
Health and light