Key Information
Year:
2018Education Establishment:
University of Huddersfield / Université Clermont AuvergneName of Chair Lead:
co-leads Dr Nicola Gray and Professor Didier JourdanThis Chair and UNITWIN network have a UNESCO mandate to promote sustainable intersectoral links between health and education in settings across the lifecourse. Much of the work has been focused on schools; settings where we can help children and young people to build foundations for healthy lives. Health and education are mutually beneficial: healthy students learn better, and students who get a good education, in health-promoting schools, are then able to improve their social determinants of health.
The work of this Chair
This Chair and UNITWIN network build a global community by connecting universities, public and private organisations and individuals who are interested in the intersections between education and health. Community members are invited to get involved with knowledge production (research), capacity-building and knowledge-sharing activities. This might be through attending webinars, joining working groups for key projects, or by becoming a national representative to promote the work of the Chair in their own networks.
The main community event in the Chair’s year is the Global Community Health Workshop, a multi-day webinar in June – run twice each day to accommodate global timezones. Keynote presentations from leaders in the field are accompanied by ‘community health hubs’, where participants can join others – in the language of their choice – to discuss the day’s insights and to decide action in their own communities.
There are four ‘flagship themes’ capturing the scope of the Chair’s work:
- Extending health promotion practices in community health settings
- Building healthy and resilient schools
- Moving towards genuine participation
- Enacting health learning pathways at a local level
The co-Chairs, and leaders in the Chair’s community, engage in advocacy through keynote speeches, publications/briefings, topic-based webinars and contributions to project/technical advisory groups.
About the Chair Leads
The Co-Chairs of the UNESCO Chair ‘Global Health and Education’ (GHE) reflect intersectoral partnerships that underpin lifelong learning – healthcare, public health, health promotion and education.
Nicola Gray is Reader in Medicines and Health at the University of Huddersfield. An academic pharmacist, her research and policy interests include the use of medicines by young people living with chronic illness, health literacy, and lifelong health learning pathways. She is a Trustee of the UK Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH), and Vice-President for Europe of the International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH).
Didier Jourdan is Full Professor of Education at the Université Clermont Auvergne. He was the former Director of the Prevention and Health Promotion Division of the French National Public Health Agency and was responsible for implementation of policies on prevention, health education, risk reduction and health promotion. He is Vice-President of the International Union of Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE).
