ASSET project final conference
ASSET PROJECT FINAL CONFERENCE
ASSET (Action plan on Science in Society in Epidemics and Total pandemics) project is now approaching its end, after working for 4 years on joining forces between science and society in order to better tackle Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC), like epidemics and pandemics.
Its outputs will be presented in an open discussion with leading experts in the field at the
ASSET Final Conference and Brokerage event in Rome,
at the hotel NH Roma Leonardo Da Vinci, on October 30-31.
A lesson learnt by 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic is that societal issues are not any less relevant than practical measures of containment to stop the spread of an infectious disease. Therefore, in the wake of that crisis, the European Commission decided to fund several projects, among which ASSET, to study the impact of Science-in-Society issues in pandemic and epidemic preparedness and response, in the line of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI).
Recent infectious threats, such as Ebola in Western Africa and Zika in America, have confirmed the relevance of risk communication, biosecurity, ethical and gender implications, open access in science and science education, a transparent policy and a participatory governance of the crisis, with an active engagement of every stakeholder, included the public.
All these issues will be dealt with during the Conference, whose detailed programme is linked here.
The meeting will be opened on Monday, October 30th h 2:00 pm by
Walter Ricciardi, president of the Italian National Health Institute (ISS, Istituto Superiore di Sanità).
Other guest speakers, in addition to ASSET partners, will be:
- Massimo Ciotti, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Stockolm, Sweden
- Paolo Fortunato D’Ancona, Ministry of Health. Rome, Italy
- Jacques de Haller, Comité Permanent des Médecins Européens, CPME. Brussels, Belgium
- Giorgio Guzzetta, Bruno Kessler Foundation. Trento, Italy
- Stefania Iannazzo, Italian Ministry of Health. Rome, Italy
- Stefano Merler, Bruno Kessler Foundation. Trento, Italy
- Daniela Ovadia, University of Pavia, Italy
- Alberto Perra, Local Health Unit Rome 5, Italy
- Antonio Scala, Institute for Complex Systems (ISC), CNR. University “La Sapienza”. Rome, Italy
- Michael Sulzner, European Commission, Luxembourg
- Alberto Tozzi, Bambino Gesù Hospital. Rome, Italy.
Concurrently, in a brokerage event on the same premises, ASSET partners and 10 other EU-funded projects will present themselves by poster sessions, videos, interviews, interactive seminars and social media corners.
About the ASSET project:
ASSET (Action plan in Science in Society in Epidemics and Total pandemics), is a 48 month European Union co-funded transdisciplinary, Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Action Plan project involving 14 consortium partners from 11 countries.
Among its main outputs, ASSET produced:
- An Action Plan with practical tools targeted to different stakeholders: international, national and local authorities and organizations; healthcare professionals, scientific community, industry, media and public;
- A one-day Citizen Consultation, in the line of Deliberative Democracy, engaging 400 people, previously well informed, in a discussion on Science-in-Society issues about infectious threats, in 8 European countries;
- Several means of interaction among stakeholders by features and interviews on ASSET website, social media, bulletins, newsletters, a glossary and a Paper Series (ISSN: 2532-3784);
- Several e-mail exchanges and three personal meetings of a High Level Policy Forum, involving 15 members from different countries (Norway, Sweden, Italy, UK, Denmark, France, Israel, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Romania, Ireland and Greece);
- Three editions of an Annual Summer School in Rome targeted to professionals and PhD students in several fields (medicine, public health, philosophy, social science, communication, healthcare, health economics, and administration);
- A platform that gathered Good and Best Practices and one focused on Gender issues contents on the ASSET website;
- Local Initiatives in Rome, Milan Malpensa Airport, Paris, Lyon, Dublin, London, Brussels, Oslo, Sofia, Bucharest, Geneva, Haifa.
- Data Visualizations for analysing some relevant points of the debate (compulsoriness of vaccination, gender in trials, ethical issues in pandemic plans, immunization of healthcare workers in Europe).
Anyone can register online as well as at the conference venue.
For any further information, please do not hesitate to contact
Roberta Villa, Zadig
Tel: 0039 3398182219
Email: villa@zadig.it