And& is proud to present its second edition in the knowledge region of Leuven, at the pinnacle of health, high-tech & creativity. It is a biennial moment that brings today’s change-makers together & inspires curious minds of all backgrounds. and& provides a platform for change & interdisciplinary innovation that aims to transform our society & act upon the challenges we face today.
Our world has been dealing with COVID-19 for little over a year now. The global pandemic is not the first — and certainly not the last — global pandemic the world has learned to cope with. However, the corona virus outbreak which caused the world to go in lockdown mid March 2020, has exposed some of the structural shortcomings of global institutions and health organizations. Will we be able to prevent a next pandemic? And if so, which global efforts should be made in order to do so?
How to prevent the next pandemic?
The line-up for this panel discussion with live Q & A, is exclusively curated by Health House: a world-class experience platform presenting the future of health and care. Leveraging on the Health House’s recent creation Planet Virus, a unique educational experience on pandemics, we bring along, together with our creative partner Norvell Jefferson, the following renowned experts to the and& Festival:
Hans Kluge is a Belgian doctor who was appointed to Regional Director of Europe at the World Health Organisation. He was the only one of 6 candidates who, besides his own native language, could speak the 4 official languages of the WHO. Kluge studied Medicine at the University of Leuven.
Peter Piot is a professor and physician who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. After his discovery he flew to the village in question near the Ebola river and was personally responsible for preventing the first Ebola epidemic. Piot holds a doctorate in Microbiology and he is director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is a former assistant-secretary-general of the United Nations and former director of UNAIDS. He was recently appointed as corona advisor to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Isabelle Putseys is expert leader urban insight at Sweco Group. Her key area of expertise lies in sustainability, climate responsive projects and water urbanism. She is one of the main authors of the research article “The Happy, Healthy, City. A Dream or Tomorrow’s Reality?” in which she explores the concept of “the city as a vaccine”.
“Health is a broad concept that can refer to both health of people and health of environments. In fact, what we need to realize is that both are directly linked to each other. It’s about creating beneficial solutions for both.”
Jens Aerts is a civil engineer and architect, who graduated from the University of Leuven. After experience in design studios at home and abroad, Aerts specialized in developing strategic vision, urban development, project coordination and supervision related to architecture and public domain.
Jean Gil Barroca is Senior Manager, Global Smart Cities & Urban Development Specialist at Deloitte Portugal. He designs ICT tools that address challenges in developing countries. Open Government and Open Data, particularly the enhancement of transparency and accountability and its impact on the empowerment of citizens, are his current focus. He initially worked in Smart City projects funded by the European Commission, focusing on the development of bottom-up services for cities. He has been involved in projects in Africa (DRC, Tanzania and Mozambique), and Latin America (Colombia and Chile).
Mitchell Joachim is an architect and urban designer. He is the co-founder of Terreform ONE a non-profit architecture and urban think tank that advances ecological design in derelict municipal areas. The organization strives to inspire unique solutions for global sustainability, and seeks to encourage public appreciation for the numerous methods in which architecture and urban design improves human life. Joachim is also an Associate Professor of Practice at NYU.
They will be accompanied by the and& speakers Oluwafolajimi Adesanya and Adaora Okoli.
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