Embedding Sustainability in the Medical Academy at Gothenburg University, Sweden

Three of the CSH team had the great pleasure to take part in the sustainable week of action at the Sahlgrenska Academy, the medical faculty of Gothenburg University last week. We kicked off the week with a presentation on sustainable healthcare, followed by a seminar for lecturers and programme directors on how it can be embedded in each medical programme.

Sweden’s Higher Education act has declared that ‘Higher education institutions shall promote sustainable development to assure for present and future generations a sound and healthy environment, economic and social welfare, and justice. ‘ It is exciting to see that Sahlgrenska has got a really active working group to take this agenda forward. The group is led by senior lecturer in Public Health and sustainability lead Gunilla Priebe.

On the second day, CSH ran a 3 hour workshop with students to engage them in the interconnectedness of climate change, health and healthcare. It was great to see and support their interest in making a difference as future professionals in public health and clinical care.

We very much hope that our visit is the start of a longer term collaboration between CSH and Sahlgrenska. On the return journey, Stefi stopped off at Stockholm to do another 2 days’ workshops and teaching for the Karolinska University Hospital, so we are already joining the dots!