NOVA Sustainability Week: IANDA, CLIMOS and WHO Collaborating Centre represented the GHTM-IHMT initiatives developed in the light of sustainability

NOVA Sustainability Week, the event aimed to potentiate the crossing of inter and multidisciplinary opportunities in all areas – Research, Innovation, Education and Infrastructures – among NOVA community, and to act as a transformative opportunity for all who want to align their activity with the United Nations 2030 Agenda, occured between 12^th and 16^th September at Campolide Campus.

The program of this event promoted several activities along the week (workshops, debates and online and/or presential presentations), in which teachers, researchers, students and non-teachers – the NOVA community – of the nine organic units, of various research centers, were the main actors of this week, debating around common SDOs.

At the invitation of the Vice-Rector for Education, Tiago Correia, PPS-GHTM, researcher, participated in the session dedicated to Pedagogical Innovation in Health in the Context of Sustainability, held on the opening day of the event. “IHMT, ENSP and NMS together reflected on the challenges and how sustainability should promote new approaches to teaching and learning in health, with a focus on Global Health, Public Health and Medicine”, said Tiago Correia.

During this week, the focus was on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) stations, which highlighted around 100 projects and initiatives that already demonstrate NOVA ‘s commitment to sustainability. Regarding this topic, GHTM-IHMT highlights the participation of Carla Maia, Deolinda Cruz, Cátia Guerreiro and Luís Lapão.

Carla Maia participated in the SDG 3 station to discuss the value of sustainability for research. As reported, the CLIMOS project “seeks to provide better understanding of climate and environmental drivers of sand fly borne diseases, to reduce model uncertainties for better prognosis of their current and potential spread, and to provide socio-economic and risk assessments for a diversity of stakeholders”. According the project coordinator and VDB-GHTM researcher, CLIMOS outputs will include “public access interactive mapping and information services and recommendations for public and animal health, and to assist future public (social, environmental, and financial) preparedness”. “It was positive because it allowed me to get to know other projects that are being developed in other organic units of the university”, mentioned Carla Maia about her participation in the event.

On the topic of sustainability as a competitive factor in innovation, Deolinda Cruz, Cátia Guerreiro and Luís Lapão gather at SOD 17 and represent IANDA Guiné Saúde and Centro Colaborador OMS respectively. IANDA Guiné Saúde is a project financially supported by the European Union and co-financed by Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P., and the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, which is also the implementing agency, together with the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT) and the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra (ESEnfC). On behalf of IHMT-NOVA, Cátia Guerreiro is responsible for the scientific coordination of some of the project’s activities. According to PPS-GHTM researcher, “IANDA Guiné Saúde aims to contribute to universal health coverage, strengthen the governance of the national health system of Guinea-Bissau and improve the quality and quantity of health professionals”.

With the main goal of promote research and education on Human Resources Policy and planning in Human Resources in Health, Centro Colaborador da OMS para as Políticas e Planeamento da Força de Trabalho em Saúde (CC), an integral part of IHMT-NOVA, is “the only Collaborative Centre of Iberian Peninsula of Human Resources in Health and one of three European centers. CC is also part of WHO international collaborative centers network, and has a strong position in the context of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP)”, said Luis Lapão. Initiatives to promote a healthy society in accordance with the SDGs is one of the CC’s main purposes, “which supports WHO to strengthen the capacity of public health institutes in CPLP, through the training of trainers and the development of quality assurance mechanisms”, mentioned the GHTM assistant researcher and CC member.

GHTM-IHTM also brings up the participation of Filomena Pereira in the session on “Sustainability at NOVA Schools – by the Directors Voices”, where, in representation of Filomeno Fortes, IHMT Director, the NOVA Schools Directors shared their vision for sustainability with the whole community.

The first edition of NOVA Sustainability Week, as part of the strategy to support NOVA’s commitment to Sustainability, was an opportunity to get to know several activities that NOVA develops in alignment with the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and to promote synergies.

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