WHO Virtual Capacity Building Course on contaminated sites and health Bonn School on Environment and Health Version date 3 – 24 November 2022
Following a first online edition of the WHO Bonn Environment and Health School in 2021, WHO school will be continued with two separate capacity building courses, taking place virtually on seven days from 3 to 24 November 2022.
The themes for the 2022 courses are:
- Health impact assessment (HIA)
- Contaminated sites assessment and redevelopment (CS)
The courses will take place twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, starting on Thursday 3 November and ending on Thursday, 24 November 2022. Learning activities will take place between 09:00 and 14:00 CET, divided into three sessions per day. The courses will apply a problem-based learning approach to support application and reflection of the acquired knowledge.
Since the courses will run in parallel, participants will be able to choose to attend only one of the two. The courses will take place twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, starting on Thursday 3 November and ending on Thursday, 24 November 2022. Learning activities will take place between 09:00 and 14:00 CET, divided into three sessions per day. The courses will apply a problem-based learning approach to support application and reflection of the acquired knowledge.
Each course has a maximum of 30 places and will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation in Russian.The courses will be offered for free to staff of national as well as sub national authorities working in a respective technical field. Applications can be accepted from national, regional and local authority employees from all 53 member states of the WHO European be submitted by the respective participant directly, supported by a formal approval of her/his supervisor. However, due to the limited number of places available a selection of participants will be done by WHO (see course announcement attached).
Course applications need to be made by 9 September 2022. The application can be submitted by the respective participant directly, supported by a formal approval of her/his supervisor. However, due to the limited number of places available a selection of participants will be done by WHO (see course announcement attached).
A minimum of 80% attendance and active participation will be required to receive a certificate of attendance. If interested in a training certificate, an additional test will have to be passed at the end of the course.
Course objectives
The overall objective of the capacity building course is to facilitate technical skills and procedural knowledge supporting evidence-based decision-making on contaminated sites and their environmental, health and equity impacts. This will be achieved through the following learning objectives:
1) raising awareness of the environmental and health-related challenges related to contaminated sites across Europe;
2) strengthening technical capacities at national as well as subnational level on addressing health impacts of contaminated sites (risk assessment, health impact assessment, risk communication, remediation, redevelopment);
3) enhancing interaction and collaboration capacities between different disciplines and sectors and strengthen EH advocacy skills; and
4) applying and validating theoretical knowledge by self-learning elements using Problem-Based Learning and role games.
Expected outcome of the course
The expected outcomes of the course are:
• increased awareness of contaminated sites issues and related health aspects;
• awareness of methods, tools and legal frameworks related to contaminated sites;
• acquisition of knowledge and capacities on risk assessment and risk management of contaminated sites;
• clear understanding of the approaches and priorities for the redevelopment of contaminated sites; and
• improved abilities to identify stakeholders and involve the local community
Target audience
This capacity building course is tailored towards staff of public authorities in countries of the WHO European Region, with an experience of 2 to 5 working years, coming from
• national ministries, institutions and decision-making entities covering environment, spatial planning, waste management and health, or
• sub-national authorities involved with planning and decision-making on environment, spatial planning, waste management and health at regional or local level.
A minimum level of familiarity with basic epidemiological and environmental concepts is a pre-
requisite, as is a basic command of conventional tools like MS Word, Excel and Zoom
Detailed information on the course content, the application process and the criteria for participation is attached (please contact eurobonnschool@who.int in case of questions).
Apply for the WHO Capacity Building Courses here.
