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HEALth and ENvironment in Africa and Europe

Project description

Links between health and environmental issues in Africa and Europe

Concerns about the links between environmental and health issues have grown since the pandemic. Key challenges include rising temperatures, the spread of disease, nutritional changes, and pollution from mineral extraction connected to global ‘green’ markets. Solutions require new skills. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the HEALENAE project aims to provide training on critical health and environmental topics, engaging universities across Europe and Africa. Specifically, the programme will explore the connections between health and the environment, addressing challenges such as shifting disease patterns, climate change, urbanisation, inequality, and evolving demographics. Researchers will gain hands-on experience in collaborative methods, working with civil society organisations and using interactive techniques.

Objective

HEALENAE offers a cross-continental, innovative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sectoral anthropological approach to pressing
interrelated health and environmental challenges across Africa and Europe. Concerns about interlinkages between environment and
health and the inter-continental connectedness between these problems have intensified since the last pandemic. These include:
rising temperatures; proliferation of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases; changes in nutrition; increase in chronic conditions such as
diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; chemical intensification of agriculture; and pollution, including extraction of minerals that
poison local African environments while providing batteries for global “green” markets. Addressing the complex intersection of
health and social consequences of globalised production and environmental change requires new kinds of social scientists, versed in
environmental and health issues, able to think and work across sectors and continents. HEALENAE brings together anthropological,
one health, environmental, global and regional approaches to address these problems. Seven universities—Aarhus (DK), Cape Town
(SA), Edinburgh (UK), Leuven (B) Makerere (UG), Nairobi (KE), and Oslo (NO)—will offer 15 double or joint degrees for ESRs, all of them between African and European universities. Through ethnographic fieldwork, exploring specific connections between health and
environment across both continents, the programme will provide insights into, and enable future mitigations of, challenges such as
changing disease patterns, climate and environmental changes, shifting population demographics, accelerated urbanisation,
growing inequality, emerging epidemics, changing gender and generational dynamics. The ESRs will be trained in interdisciplinary
and collaborative approaches, engaging with civil society organisations and using multimodal and interactive outlets to maximize the
dissemination and impact of their findings.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN-JD - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks - Joint Doctorates

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01

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Coordinator

AARHUS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 1 343 560,32
Address
NORDRE RINGGADE 1
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
Region
Danmark Midtjylland Østjylland
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data

Participants (5)

Partners (7)