The One HEALtH Student Challenge

A One Health approach to the health issues that face the planet today requires collaborations across multiple sectors and disciplines locally, nationally, and globally. One Health works at the intersection of human and animal health, with the natural and built environments contributing to and transforming this relationship.

Many One Health initiatives are driven by socioeconomic issues that include, but are not limited to population growth; nutritional, agricultural, and trade practices; poverty; globalization; land use and resource development; urbanization and migration; social justice and conflict; and climate change.
In the CHAIM Centre’s annual One HEALtH (Human, Environmental, Animal Links to Health) Student Challenge, Carleton University undergraduate students work in interdisciplinary teams to tackle a One Health issue facing our world today. Previous Challenges have focused on topics like antibiotic resistance, community rebuilding following natural disasters, promoting healthy human-animal interaction, and bringing together older and younger adults to combat social isolation. ​ All participants develop skills associated with working in multi-disciplinary teams to develop out-of-the-box, community-engaged approaches to a One Health issue. We encourage participation from students not only in health-related disciplines, but also in many others such as those dealing with technology and software applications, design, public policy, and communications.  It's often when diverse perspectives come together that out-of-the-box solutions can be discovered!

The 2022 Challenge
This year, students will be asked to consider the need for outdoor green spaces highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams will be given the task of creating an intervention (an application, program, tool, product, or strategy) that promotes the use of green spaces to achieve public health benefits, while balancing the potential negative effects on ecological health and biodiversity. This intervention could consist of changes to the green spaces itself, or programs that promote its use. 
The 2022 Challenge will be held virtually to comply with COVID-19 restrictions and will run for six weeks, beginning with an online training workshop on January 29th and ending on March 19th, 2022. At the conclusion of the Challenge, each team will present their intervention via a 2-3 minute video pitch and answered questions from an expert panel of judges.

 Members of the winning teams receive a $100 cash prize and have their solutions featured and promoted through the CHAIM Centre’s networks.

Apply today!

Visit the link below for eligibility criteria and instructions on how to apply: