Last week we launched our Impact Community Health! This community arose from our collaboration with a group of teachers, who were each looking for support in finding stakeholders in the welfare and health sector. We noticed that often teachers deal with the same challenges, so it was time to bundle our strengths!
In this community, various teachers from different faculties came together to share insights, challenges, and aspirations. What they all have in common is working on health-related courses to make a positive societal impact, whether it is from a behavioral, psychological, or medical discipline. By intertwining academic expertise with real-world engagement, the initiative seeks to create meaningful impact beyond the confines of traditional education. We learned more about courses in which students worked together with the police of Rotterdam, the smoke-free campus initiative, the Blijdorp Zoo, and many more.
During the session, each educator introduced themselves and their specialized area of focus within the realm of health education. Engaging discussions ensued as participants shared their unique challenges and identified opportunities for collaboration. Additionally, a timeline was crafted, mapping out the schedule of courses throughout the academic year, to explore if we can pass on stakeholder cases throughout the year. We also used the session to gather wishes from the teachers about what they would like to gain from this community. For example: having one stakeholder for multiple courses to gather a transdisciplinary view for the problems they present. This way, students can learn from each other as well!
Looking ahead, we will come together during an event in June, where stakeholders will be invited to participate in collaborative endeavors. This upcoming event promises to further amplify the impact of the community's efforts, fostering meaningful partnerships and driving positive change in the realm of health education. In the meantime, we stay in touch and keep each other updated via our Teams channel.
Do you want support with making your health-related course more impact-driven, want to hear about the stories of other teachers, collaborate, or find/meet stakeholders?
If you want to join us, or learn more about this initiative, you can send an e-mail to impactatthecore@eur.nl