The initiative is now in its ninth edition, after bringing together nearly 400 groups across the previous eight calls. For the second consecutive year, the program will focus on the “One Health” approach, which links human, animal and environmental health to jointly address some of the major health and environmental challenges.
FROM THE CLASSROOM TO RESEARCH
Participating schools will initially receive guides, experimental kits and information sheets adapted to each educational level. Based on five challenges, students will have to develop their own research projects, and fifteen of them will be selected to take part in the School Fair that will bring the program to a close.
This edition also introduces new ways of bringing science closer to students. One of them will be “The One Health Council”, a role-playing game in which students will create an International Council and work together to find a joint solution to one of the challenges presented. The podcast “One Health in 7 Minutes” will also premiere, featuring ten episodes in which students themselves will prepare and moderate interviews with IA2 researchers on nutrition, food safety and sustainability.
The program will also include activities aimed at improving young people's science communication skills, such as an advisory session organized together with the +QFEnanoMENOS project of the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon and an environmental workshop led by the ECODES Foundation. Teachers will also be able to take part in “One Health Day”, during which IA2 researchers will explain the connections between the health of people, animals and the environment.
FIFTEEN PROJECTS WILL REACH THE FINAL
The School Fair will once again provide the closing event for the project. The fifteen finalist groups will have just ten minutes to present their work in the so-called One Health Science Slams, which will be judged through votes from the attending public. A virtual fair will also allow those unable to attend in person to discover the projects.
The final event will feature activities on the relationship between water and soil quality and the health of crops, animals and people, as well as the “Connected Health Mission” activity and an awareness-raising talk. Another new feature will be “Seeds of Opinion”, a youth debate supervised by IA2 researchers in which participants will be able to share their views on the program's five challenges.
Registration is now open to primary and secondary schools, vocational training centers and special education centers in Aragon. Participants may request guidance to develop their projects, as part of an initiative promoted by IA2 in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).
