Climate change has grown into one of the greatest global challenges of our time. The LANCET, the oldest and most well-known medical journal, described it in 2009 as "the biggest threat for health in the 21th century" and added in 2015: "but it could be the biggest chance, too". The necessary transformation towards a climate-neutral society can be carried out in a way that's very beneficial to health. Healthcare workers play a central role in identifying and communicating synergies between planetary and personal health.
The WHO, the World Medical Association and others are calling for a focus on initial and continuing education and training for all those working in healthcare. Despite the latest national and international reports bringing this interconnection to the fore (including the APCC Special Report on Health and the 2nd Progress Report of the Austrian Strategy for climate change adaptation), this hasn't yet been taken up in a structured way in Austria.
On 21 September 2022, the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA), together with the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) and Health for Future (H4F) Austria, with the support of the Climate and Energy Fund and the BMK, hosted the dialogue event "Climate Changes Health: Building Competencies in Healthcare Professions" at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna.
We were delighted to bring so many people together and work with you on the vitally important topic of "Climate Changes Health".
Programme with all contributors and discussion topics.
The event review including a photo record of the Open Space groups is available online here.
As an output of the workshop, Health for Future Austria drafted an Open Letter on the strategic implementation of climate competencies in the initial and continuing education and training of all those working in the healthcare sector.
You can find the Open Letter here.
You can find Willi Haas's presentation here. You can download Nathalie Nidens's presentation here.
We hope that this event has helped to embed climate competencies in the healthcare professions and that through this exchange and networking we've managed to move things forward a little.