Sustainable Health

Where does COVID-19 come from and was it avoidable in the first place? What are its connections with the Black Lives Matter movement, and why do minority groups experience worse outcome after infection? What has been the role of health systems in coping with the pandemic?

After answering all these questions, we will discuss potential answers to the most important one: what should the ‘new, better, normal’ after COVID-19 look like?

The answer to this question depends heavily on how we want to define health, overcoming the concept of health as a commodity, advocating for it to be sustainable. Sustainable health is a new concept based on the principles of preventive medicine and sustainable health systems, equitably distributed in populations, and in harmony with the planet we live in, in order to maintain and improve the health of the generations to come. During the summer school, this concept will be explored in detail exploring the interconnectedness of preventive medicine, planetary health, social determinants of health and international governance.

This Summer School in Sustainable Health will accompany the students in a philosophical, scientific, and social journey, which will enable them to explore the interconnectedness of many contextual factors in relation to health. From structural racism to the Amazon forest burning, from the financing of health systems to the international laws regulating asylum, students will reflect on the complexity and interdependence of the many aspects of the current situation, imagining a new, better normal to advocate for.