Coordinators welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the Summer (Spring) School’s participants of the HARMONEE project, Erasmus+ programme. This meeting was organized by Harmonee coordinators to start the preparation for Summer school the participants from PCs with an overall number of participants of 29 people.
The two hours and half included a welcoming session, a focus on the mission, a first introduction to interdisciplinary research and education and a selection of module topic.
The project coordinators greeted the participants of the summer school, after which the floor was given to the participants to introduce themselves and the university where they work. The main coordinators and teachers of this meeting were also introduced to the participants: Claudio Colosio, Mieke Lumens, Wietske Dohmen, Kenesh Dzhusupov.
All coordinators expressed high expectations and good results from this international cooperation.
The main objectives of the project were highlighted, including: the development of new modules for strengthening of disciplinary skills required in the field of Public Health, such as environmental epidemiology, toxicology, infectious diseases, exposures sciences, occupational health, risk assessment for MSc students; building local capacity by training teachers in the development and running of MSc education in Public Health; improving the level of educational and research competences and skills in participating HEIs within Public Health related fields; fostering and expanding existing regional and international network regarding Public Health education; the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach in Public Health education.
More in details, precise steps have already been planned. We find, among them the assessment of present MSc modules of the PC Universities, the review of the present modules of each partner University and the identification of weak points of current modules.
The second speech at the summer school was presented by Prof. Mieke Lumens on interdisciplinary research and education, which identified approaches such as redefinition, modifying or redefining concepts in different texts and contexts to bring out a common meaning; extension, extending a theory, or the assumptions underlying a theory so that it includes elements identified by other authors; transformation, addressing opposites by placing them on a continuum; organization: organizing concepts, assumptions, theoretical approaches, and even entire disciplines to bring out a relationship between them; intension, shortening a theory, or the assumptions underlying a theory so that one theory conforms to the other; distinguishing, analyzing the concept to bring out the underlying non-commonality in meaning.
Further, the participants were divided into 3-4 people and they were provided with topics for discussion in groups on the following subjects:
– Environmental contamination of densely populated areas with radioactive contamination by tailing dumps;
– Increased zoonotic infectious diseases due to expanding urban territories to rural areas;
– Water pollution from industrial runoff;
– Health related to air pollution caused by motor vehicles;
– Zoonotic infectious disease risk by poor agricultural practices in livestock farming.
Finally, the floor was given to Kenesh Dzhusupov about the selected topics of modules for Master’s programmes.
Before the start of the Summer School, a questionnaire conducted on priority topics for the development of modules. Topics selected based on the questionnaire, then the results presented at this meeting. Following this, the participants divided into groups of 3 people with a specific theme. The distribution principle based on the specialty of the participant, and taking into account the fact that in each group there should be a representative from each partner country.