From July 31st to August 2nd, 2023, PhD students Viktoriia Hurza and Nadiia Stefanyshyn, from the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, participated in the Una Europa One Health Summer School 2023, held at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. This event received support from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, particularly through the Una4UA project, and participant selection was competitive. The involvement of our PhD students was facilitated by the Postgraduate Department and the Department of International Relations at PNU.
The concept of One Health is actively contributing to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by acknowledging the interconnectedness of human, animal, organism, and environmental health. As underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, health issues arising from intricate interactions among humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems necessitate a reevaluation of established paradigms and methodologies. Enhancing cooperation across diverse sectors and disciplines, encompassing life sciences, health, and social sciences, is of paramount importance.
Approximately 30 participants hailing from various nations actively participated in the Summer School. The curriculum encompassed a series of lectures and workshops, with English serving as the primary medium of communication. The Una Europa One Health Summer School 2023 offered PhD students a unique opportunity to access insightful presentations and expand their knowledge on topics such as the etiology and transmission of infectious diseases, climate change, environmental contamination, and the utilization of model organisms in research. The workshops aimed at fostering participant interaction and collaboration, promoting systems thinking, employing the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) assessment system to conduct comprehensive evaluations of their own research, and crafting operational models utilizing relevant software tools. Furthermore, this event facilitated the exchange of knowledge and ideas within the participants’ respective fields, paving the way for future collaborative cooperation.
