iCREATE
Increasing Capacity for Injury Research in Eastern Europe
Contact
Dr. Diana Dulf
diana.dulf@ubbcluj.ro
Pandurilor 7 Street, 9th Floor, Room 910, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The iCREATE Summer School 2024 wass designed to provide students with the background and skills necessary to design, implement, and evaluate public health intervention programs focusing on violence and injury prevention and control.
What a great experience was to host this year’s edition of the Summer School on Violence and Injury Prevention (SCOPE) organized by the Increasing Capacity for Injury Research in Eastern Europe (iCREATE) project! We welcomed 20 students from Armenia, Georgia, Rep. Moldova, the USA, Spain, Poland, and Romania who benefited from intense learning sessions conducted by experts in the field.
This week-long program in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, was designed as a workshop-based course in partnership with the Department of Public Health. Participants engaged in panels, presentations, workshops, and site visits to gain hands-on experience.
Throughout the course, participants developed a set of competencies aimed at enhancing public health interventions and strategies. All students earned a certificate of completion and 3 transferable academic credits for their participation. Here’s a look:
The workshops were taught by 11 experts in the field from Australia (1), USA (2) and Romania (8). Find more about them here:
The students were taught interactively and had the opportunity to develop, adapt and practice skills in program design, program implementation and evaluation through in-class activities and case studies. For example, as part of the “Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning – working with different stakeholders” session by Ryan Dusil (University of Iowa, USA), students had the unique opportunity to experience the daily mobility obstacles faced by physically disabled individuals, visually impaired persons, and people pushing strollers. This hands-on activity fostered a deeper understanding of accessibility issues in our community. #thisispublichealth
Throughout the week, students worked on group projects to apply the learnings to real-world scenarios, and then presented them to the audience and received feedback for future improvement, if needed. Students will have the chance to apply for other iCREATE project opportunities in the future (experiential learning projects, short-term trainings etc.).
As part of the SCOPE Summer School, students had the opportunity to explore beyond the classroom with several field trips that allowed them to explore local culture and connect with each other.
The experience began with a trip to the Turda Salt Mine, one of Romania’s most fascinating historical sites. Located in Turda City, the salt mine is a marvel of engineering and history, dating back to antiquity and famously used during the Roman Empire. Following this, participants toured the Astra Museum, one of the largest open-air museums in Europe. Located in Sibiu City, it showcases Romania’s rich cultural heritage through an extensive collection of traditional buildings, including homes, and churches, all carefully relocated and preserved to represent the diverse architectural styles and rural life of Romania’s various regions.
In addition to these field trips, students also had the opportunity to attend the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), which took place in the same week. As Romania’s largest international film festival, TIFF showcased over 250 films and offered a diverse program including cine-concerts, art exhibitions, and meetings between filmmakers and audiences.
We also had the pleasure of welcoming two delegates from the University of Iowa—Associate Vice President for Research Kristy Nabhan-Warren and Associate Provost and Dean for International Programs Russ Ganim—who were visiting Cluj-Napoca during the same period to further develop our academic collaboration. Over the past several years, Babeș-Bolyai University has established a strong partnership with Iowa’s College of Public Health, working together to advance shared goals in public health education and research. You can read more about Dean’s message on the visit here.
It was a great academic and cultural experience to welcome so many people from different parts of the world and work together towards advancing health intervention programs focusing on violence and injury prevention and control. Many thanks to everyone that has played a part in this successful event!
With these being said, we keep in touch for the next Summer School on Violence and Injury Prevention as part of iCREATE! More information soon.
Increasing Capacity for Injury Research in Eastern Europe
Dr. Diana Dulf
diana.dulf@ubbcluj.ro
Pandurilor 7 Street, 9th Floor, Room 910, Cluj-Napoca, Romania