Researchers Developing Online Visualisation Tool to Support Decision Makers in Tackling Vector Borne Diseases
26 June 2014
Austria
The tool will provide direct and visual access to the results of the EC-funded HEALTHY FUTURES (Health, Environmental Change and Adaptive Capacity: mapping, examining and anticipating future risks of water-related vector-borne diseases in eastern Africa) project.
HEALTHY FUTURES is an FP7-funded research project that aims to construct a disease risk-mapping system for three water-related, high-impact VBDs (malaria, Rift Valley fever and schistosomiasis) in eastern Africa, taking into account environmental/climatic trends and changes in socio-economic conditions to predict future risk. As the project is now in its final year, significant progress is being made in an effort to integrate the scientific outputs of the project into an effective online visualisation tool suitable for decision makers within eastern Africa.
The online atlas is being developed at the Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) in collaboration with other HEALTHY FUTURES partners. It will enable end-users to filter the available information by the target disease, time and associated climate change scenarios, and the risk framework components. For each of the three diseases, different time components will be available including historical data, present-day results, future scenarios, and “change maps”. For most of the combinations, maps will be displayed and different information associated to the data will be visualised through graphs and/or tables. The atlas will be based on open source software products and will be accessible via the project website: www.healthyfutures.eu
HEALTHY FUTURES has also recently released a report detailing its collaborations and synergies with other related projects and stakeholders. In particular, the benefits and outcomes of HEALTHY FUTURES’ collaborations with its sister project QWeCI (Quantifying Weather and Climate Impacts on Health in Developing Countries) are noted, focusing in particular, on a number of malaria and Rift Valley Fever models utilized in both projects. These include the Liverpool Malaria Model, initially developed under the DEMETER project (FP5), which was further refined in both QWeCI and HEALTHY FUTURES, the Rift Valley Fever Model originally developed by the University of Liverpool during QWeCI and the VECTRI malaria model recently developed at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The use of these models within HEALTHY FUTURES would not have been possible without the close collaboration of QWeCI.
The report also details HEALTHY FUTURES stakeholder engagement strategy. As part of this strategy, HEALTHY FUTURES is coordinating an upcoming international conference entitled “Climate Change and Vector Borne Disease: Past, Present and Futures”. This conference is scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda from 18-20 November 2014. It will attract experts in the field of climate change and VBD research, and policy-makers from a local, regional and international level, with the aim of providing a forum to initiate meaningful discussion on how to integrate science with policy. The conference will focus on a number of themes including environmental change affecting VBDs, statistical and dynamical disease modelling, climate change related risk analysis and vulnerability assessment, and adaptation to climate-related health impacts.
For more information on the conference please visit the website: http://www.climatechange-vbdconference2014.ur.ac.rw/(opens in new window)
Note for Editors
Detailed partner profiles are available on request.
Trinity College Dublin is the coordinator of this project, with AquaTT as the project administrator partner. Prof. David Taylor, formerly of Trinity College Dublin and now based at the National University of Singapore, is the Scientific Coordinator of this project. The HEALTHY FUTURES project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 266327.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD), founded in 1592, is the oldest University in Ireland. TCD now has more than 15,700 students, 3,700 staff and 86,000 alumni, while in 2007-2008 its staff secured more than €70m in research income. TCD is widely recognised for the high quality of its graduates, the international standing of its research and scholarship, and the value it places on contributing to Irish society and the wider world. In the most recent (2009) THES survey of universities internationally, TCD was ranked in the top 50 (43rd) and in the top 15 (13th) universities in the world and in Europe, respectively.
National University of Singapore (NUS) is a leading global university centred in Asia. NUS is currently (2012) ranked in the top 25 universities globally according to the QS ranking of top universities in the world. NUS comprises 16 faculties and schools across three campus locations in Singapore – Kent Ridge, Bukit Timah and Outram. The university provides a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Over 37,000 students from 100 countries further enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives.
Contact: Prof. David Taylor (Project Coordinator), Department of Geography, NUS (email: david.taylor@nus.edu.sg)
AquaTT is an international foundation which provides project management and training services to support the sustainable development of Europe's aquatic resources. AquaTT's mission is to bridge the knowledge gap between the dynamic R&D environments and the progressive commercial sector. AquaTT supports its target audiences through the provision of support services and through participation in, and coordination of EU projects and initiatives in the area of knowledge management including customised dissemination, education, training and technology transfer.
Contact: Ciara Egan (Project Officer), AquaTT (email: ciara@aquatt.ie)
HEALTHY FUTURES is an FP7-funded research project that aims to construct a disease risk-mapping system for three water-related, high-impact VBDs (malaria, Rift Valley fever and schistosomiasis) in eastern Africa, taking into account environmental/climatic trends and changes in socio-economic conditions to predict future risk. As the project is now in its final year, significant progress is being made in an effort to integrate the scientific outputs of the project into an effective online visualisation tool suitable for decision makers within eastern Africa.
The online atlas is being developed at the Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) in collaboration with other HEALTHY FUTURES partners. It will enable end-users to filter the available information by the target disease, time and associated climate change scenarios, and the risk framework components. For each of the three diseases, different time components will be available including historical data, present-day results, future scenarios, and “change maps”. For most of the combinations, maps will be displayed and different information associated to the data will be visualised through graphs and/or tables. The atlas will be based on open source software products and will be accessible via the project website: www.healthyfutures.eu
HEALTHY FUTURES has also recently released a report detailing its collaborations and synergies with other related projects and stakeholders. In particular, the benefits and outcomes of HEALTHY FUTURES’ collaborations with its sister project QWeCI (Quantifying Weather and Climate Impacts on Health in Developing Countries) are noted, focusing in particular, on a number of malaria and Rift Valley Fever models utilized in both projects. These include the Liverpool Malaria Model, initially developed under the DEMETER project (FP5), which was further refined in both QWeCI and HEALTHY FUTURES, the Rift Valley Fever Model originally developed by the University of Liverpool during QWeCI and the VECTRI malaria model recently developed at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The use of these models within HEALTHY FUTURES would not have been possible without the close collaboration of QWeCI.
The report also details HEALTHY FUTURES stakeholder engagement strategy. As part of this strategy, HEALTHY FUTURES is coordinating an upcoming international conference entitled “Climate Change and Vector Borne Disease: Past, Present and Futures”. This conference is scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda from 18-20 November 2014. It will attract experts in the field of climate change and VBD research, and policy-makers from a local, regional and international level, with the aim of providing a forum to initiate meaningful discussion on how to integrate science with policy. The conference will focus on a number of themes including environmental change affecting VBDs, statistical and dynamical disease modelling, climate change related risk analysis and vulnerability assessment, and adaptation to climate-related health impacts.
For more information on the conference please visit the website: http://www.climatechange-vbdconference2014.ur.ac.rw/(opens in new window)
Note for Editors
Detailed partner profiles are available on request.
Trinity College Dublin is the coordinator of this project, with AquaTT as the project administrator partner. Prof. David Taylor, formerly of Trinity College Dublin and now based at the National University of Singapore, is the Scientific Coordinator of this project. The HEALTHY FUTURES project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 266327.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD), founded in 1592, is the oldest University in Ireland. TCD now has more than 15,700 students, 3,700 staff and 86,000 alumni, while in 2007-2008 its staff secured more than €70m in research income. TCD is widely recognised for the high quality of its graduates, the international standing of its research and scholarship, and the value it places on contributing to Irish society and the wider world. In the most recent (2009) THES survey of universities internationally, TCD was ranked in the top 50 (43rd) and in the top 15 (13th) universities in the world and in Europe, respectively.
National University of Singapore (NUS) is a leading global university centred in Asia. NUS is currently (2012) ranked in the top 25 universities globally according to the QS ranking of top universities in the world. NUS comprises 16 faculties and schools across three campus locations in Singapore – Kent Ridge, Bukit Timah and Outram. The university provides a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Over 37,000 students from 100 countries further enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives.
Contact: Prof. David Taylor (Project Coordinator), Department of Geography, NUS (email: david.taylor@nus.edu.sg)
AquaTT is an international foundation which provides project management and training services to support the sustainable development of Europe's aquatic resources. AquaTT's mission is to bridge the knowledge gap between the dynamic R&D environments and the progressive commercial sector. AquaTT supports its target audiences through the provision of support services and through participation in, and coordination of EU projects and initiatives in the area of knowledge management including customised dissemination, education, training and technology transfer.
Contact: Ciara Egan (Project Officer), AquaTT (email: ciara@aquatt.ie)