Health Education partners with UNESCO Chair’s Global Health and Education webinar series

The journal Health Education is the official journal of the UNESCO webinar series and aims to support UNESCO's mission of sharing knowledge to support the global community.

The Global Health & Education webinar series 2020

"Sharing knowledge to support the global community of everyone with an interest in the education and health of children and young people". This is the objective of the webinar series developed by the UNESCO Chair and WHO Collaborating Centre in "Global Health & Education". This is done in partnership with major international organisations, including Emerald Publishing, and a network of 70 universities. The content has a unique balance between contributions of the best experts and the experience of actors in the field. Together, each webinar contributes to an article about the future of health promotion. The webinars can be linked to initial and continuing training.

The webinar series is:

• Innovative
• Short and structured
• Following a similar format
• Focusing on specific issues related to education and health of children and young people
• Highly interactive
• Resulting in providing relevant resources on the topic via our website.

The webinar series is rooted in local contexts and cultures and will be offered in different languages.

Find out more

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Poverty: Still a story of our times

Emerald's Sanna Zahoor talks to Goof Buijs – Manager at UNESCO Chair Global health and Education – as he highlights the continuing blight of global poverty, the complexity behind what causes it and the new global challenges involved in reducing it.

"It is time to develop new synergies in order to improve young people's health. This is a prerequisite if we want to create an inclusive society where no child is left behind"

Hi Goof. As manager of UNESCO Chair Global Health and Education, what's your mission?

Our vision is to create conditions for children and young people which allow them to take charge of their lives; as individuals, members of their community and global citizens. This can only be done if the health and education sectors unify to shape health promotion, education, and prevention.

Our activities include creating a map of key players around the world, contributing to innovative research programmes, building capacity through training and consultancy, and sharing knowledge through websites and across social media.

What inspired your partnership with Emerald?

Didier Jourdan – Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education – and I have been members of the editorial board of Health Education for many years. We realised that both Emerald and the UNESCO Chair have much in common when it comes to knowledge production and sharing in the field of health, and that a collaborating would be a great opportunity. Subsequently, the creation of the ‘Global Health and Education webinar series' in Spring 2020 has provided an exciting foundation for our partnership.

Why do you think health and education are important for an inclusive society?

They are indisputable rights for children. Improving health and well-being for young people, while reducing health inequalities, is a joint responsibility, while education also has a key role to play because 80% of a person's health relies on environmental factors and lifestyle. It is time to develop new synergies in order to improve young people's health. This is a prerequisite if we want to create an inclusive society where no child is left behind.

What do you think the main barriers to health and education are?

All barriers are related to the life ecosystem of children. We can distinguish three main factors: individual, environmental and global. Individual aspects include biology (gender, ethnicity and illness), psychology (self-image, social skills, and risk management) and lifestyle (physical activity, sleeping, eating, alcohol, smoking, and sexual behaviour).

Factors in the environment of children include family (socio-economic, class, attitudes and parenting), school (climate, inclusion and leadership practices), the neighbourhood (facilities, community and support systems) and the physical environment (housing, pollution and safety).  Global factors include social and cultural values, the political landscape, economic conditions, and the level of services.

It is clear from research that all these dynamics have an impact on the general development of children and as they become adults.

What are the main steps that society can take to improve inclusion through health and education?

We must create conditions for the optimal development of children by looking at living conditions, such as physical and social environment and access to services. There must also be education for all children, so that everyone has the means to take charge of their own health in an autonomous and responsible way. To promote equity, we need to strengthen the common good.

Evidence suggests that healthy young people are more likely to learn effectively, and that health promotion can help schools to improve educational attainment. Also, young people that attend school have a better chance of good health, while those that feel connected to their school and significant adults are less likely to undertake high-risk behaviours and more likely to achieve better learning outcomes.

Often with poverty, there is a vicious cycle. How can access to healthcare and education can help lift people out?

Having access to high-quality health care and education is essential in helping people move up the societal ladder. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that those in poverty are suffering the most. It shows that big changes are needed in all our societies as we strive to promote equity.

Which international areas will UNESCO Chair be focusing on the next few years?

We are focusing on building a global community of key players in the field of education and health. At the same time, we are developing a new global research strategy to better prepare schools for future outbreaks and disasters. We can only do this by sharing knowledge with experts all over the world. This is one of the major reasons for creating the Global Health & Education webinar series and it is great to have Emerald Publishing as one of our key partners.

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About Goof Buijs

After graduating in 1980 at the Wageningen University in Human Nutrition Goof started his working career as a teacher trainer in health science in Amsterdam. From 1985 he worked as a health promotion officer in Amsterdam on school health promotion.

After 10 years he worked on a national and European level at the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion NIGZ and CBO and was, during 10 years, the manager of the SHE network until 2017. From 2018 he became manager of UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and WHO Collaborating Centre on Research in Education and Health, with prof Didier Jourdan as the chairholder, at the University of Clermont-Auvergne in France.  From 2019 he is director of Global Health & Education Consultancy. His field of expertise is bringing health and education together.

He is an experienced networker, expert in creating and leading international projects focused on prevention and youth, innovator, trainer, and facilitator of events and conferences. He supports cooperation among people, focusing on everyone’s talents and uniqueness. He is an environmental activist and chair of the local village council.

 

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About Health Education

Health Education is a leading journal which reflects the best of modern thinking about health education. It offers stimulating and incisive coverage of current debates, concerns, interventions, and initiatives, and provides a wealth of evidence, research, information, and ideas to inform and inspire those in both the theory and practice of health education. Health Education plays a crucial role in the development of a healthy, inclusive, and equitable social, psychological, and physical environment.

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Aims and scope

Health Education is a leading journal which reflects the best of modern thinking about health education.

The journal aims to publish high-quality research and critical debate, encompassing the broad range of health education approaches operating at individual, community, organisational and societal levels. We encourage international contributions and papers written from academic researchers and practitioners. The journal seeks to foster contributions from a range of methodological perspectives, we encourage qualitative and quantitative studies; mixed method research; and evidence reviews and synthesis. Theoretical and discursive papers are also welcomed, but contact with the Editor-in-Chief should be sought in advance.

Health Education offers stimulating and incisive coverage of current debates, concerns, interventions, and initiatives, and provides a wealth of evidence, research, information, and ideas to inform and inspire those in both the theory and practice of health education.

Typical areas of interest include:

• Health education in the digital age
• Health education in settings – schools, universities, workplaces, prisons
• Social marketing approaches
• Critical health literacy
• Health professionals as educators
• Health communication