4.M. Round table: Preparing the climate and health workforce in Europe
Authors:   Organised by: ASPHER, EUPHA-ENV,   Chair persons: John Middleton (Belgium), Kasia Czabanowska (ASPHER)
Published: October 2021

Climate change is the biggest threat to public health. Any increase in global warming leads to negative impacts on human health and well-being. Due to the complexity of climate change, it is essential that future generations of public health professionals have the knowledge to address the uncertainties faced currently. Yet, schools and institutes in public health are taking insufficient action in preparing the current and future public health workforce. This workshop focuses on climate and health education inside and outside the public health field. Research from Krasna et al. (2020) shows that public health employees need professionals with the knowledge and skills set in climate and health. There has been a clear trend in which job postings for public health professionals are increasingly mentioning “climate change” or “global warming”. Orhan et al. (2021) showed that most of their surveyed European public health schools are taking climate action and have some climate-health offerings, albeit ad hoc: a systematic, collaborative approach is missing in most schools. Universities have a key function in leading change in society and have a social responsibility. All public health professionals need to understand the basics, be able to communicate knowledgeably, and form partnerships and alliances in multidisciplinary settings with experts in these areas. Therefore, interprofessional, interdisciplinary, and transformational educational activities, which require that not only problem-solving skills but also system thinking, change and implementation strategies should be included in modern curricula addressing climate change. At the same time, future public health professionals are current younger generations: climate and health education should be implemented from an early age on, so it leads towards a more sustainable future.

This workshop aims to:

Set the need for climate and health in public health Explore current public health workforce needs and developments in climate and health Explore what action schools inside and outside public health can take

This workshop consists of an interactive panel with four panellists. The audience will be actively engaged in the debate, by opening the floor to questions and comments. The workshop will end with identifying how the public health field can move forward to ensure that current and future generations have the proper education in climate and health. There is still a need for long-term investment, far ahead of the 2030 target of the European Union. For this target to be delivered, all constituent elements of European life will need to play their part. Due to the wide experiences of the audience, we expect that the exchanges will be fruitful for all present and will allow everyone, in their context, to further contribute to climate and health in the context of the public health workforce or broader education.

Speakers/Panelists

Marija Jevtic University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Novi Sad, Serbia Heather Krasna Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, USA Nataša Vrapčević EU Climate Pact Ambassador of Serbia, Novi Sad, Serbia Rana Orhan ASPHER, Brussels, Belgium

Key messages

Climate and health has to be included in education to improve collective understanding and allow proper mitigation and adaptation policies to be developed and implemented. Academic institutions should be forward-thinking and use their influence to be leaders in the area of climate change and its intersection with public health.