EcoHealth, the sustainable App.

The rapid pace of industrialization and human activities have caused a severe disruption to the natural balance of the environment. Climate change and global warming are the result of changes in temperature, precipitation, and the uncontrolled release of various chemical pollutants into the atmosphere, water bodies, and soil. These factors have led to a decline in air quality, the depletion of water resources, the loss of cultivable land, and many other ecological and health-related effects.

However, the lack of formal education opportunities to address these environmental issues has further exacerbated the problem. This has resulted in the rise of vulnerable communities and populations that lack the knowledge, resources, and decision-making power to combat these challenges effectively. According to studies, only a small percentage of the public is scientifically literate, with an even lower percentage being knowledgeable about global environmental issues. Therefore, there is an urgent need for effective teaching and learning models that can promote climate literacy, empower individuals, and foster environmental stewardship.

The EcoHealth project seeks to promote environmental literacy in civil population by enhancing the reach of a previous project called Health +1.5ºC.

The Health +1.5ºC Project is an innovative pedagogical approach designed to educate first-year medical students about the impact of climate change on life on Earth. By focusing on the dangerous increase in global temperatures by 1.5ºC, the project highlights the potential irreversible damage to the planet's ecosystems and natural resources. The project aims to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address health issues such as vector-borne diseases, health risks associated with microplastics, the effects of environmental pollutants with carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting potential, and household solid waste management. The goal is not only to teach biology concepts, but to apply them in real-life contexts using the situated cognition model, which fosters meaningful learning and the transfer of knowledge to real-life situations. 

The project involves students in working groups that visit study houses to establish a baseline of the family's understanding of the subject. Students identify the level of knowledge that family members have, good environmental practices related to the subject, and opportunities for improvement. Questionnaires are developed to assess perceptions and prior knowledge, and students jointly define actions that will lead the family to develop sustainable habits in their homes. The project aims to motivate family members to become agents of change who contribute to being part of the solution. In the long term, the project seeks to form alliances with schools to build communities where all members contribute with their experience and knowledge. 

Based on this experience, The EcoHealth project will link the digital capabilities of the students through their social networks.  Therefore, we will expand  to an even greater number of people the knowledge and lessons learned in Health 1.5°C.

The target population for our solution comprises first-year medical students and their families who have limited access to information and resources to address adverse health effects caused by environmental factors such as infectious disease vectors, plastic pollution, chemical contamination, and solid waste accumulation. This population is currently underserved in terms of environmental health education and lacks effective strategies to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on their health and well-being.

Building on the success of the initial phase (Health 1.5°C) and the positive outcomes observed in the environmental literacy process, we aim to have a greater impact by developing a mobile application that will significantly improve the lives of this population. Our app will provide complete and reliable information on environmental health issues and practical tools to implement effective strategies to reduce their exposure to these risks. By using our platform, more people will be able to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions about their health and reduce their environmental impact by promoting sustainable living.

Our solution will empower this target population to become agents of change and leaders in their communities, advocating for a healthier and more sustainable future. We believe that this approach will build a more resilient and environmentally conscious society, better prepared to face the pressing environmental challenges of our time.

Overall, our solution will have a significant and positive impact on the lives of the target population by providing them with access to the knowledge to address environmental health issues. We envision a future where more people will be empowered to take action and contribute to building a sustainable and healthier world for all.

The team has been working for 3 years on Health +1.5°C with students and their families with the objective of generating knowledge and actions that have a positive impact on people's health and promote sustainable practices for the protection of the environment. Thus, the leader and the entire team in general have experience in dealing with environmental issues and their application to the solution of real problems that affect the community. For this reason, the design and implementation of Ecohealth builds on previous work done in the community and will have an even greater impact on environmental literacy. The families impacted include a wide variety of people, including children, senior citizens, people with low levels of schooling, as well as many professionals in non-scientific and non-environmental areas.  This diversity of population ensures that the information reaches everyone, regardless of their previous level of knowledge.  

The Health +1.5ºC project is an ongoing educational program that aims to enhance critical thinking skills about climate change and environmental pollution and their effects on the planet and human health. This initiative is a prototype because it is not a mere idea or concept, but is already being actively implemented and producing results. The project has been integrated into the Cellular Biology course of the Medical School of the Universidad del Norte de Barranquilla (Colombia). The program has been implemented for three years and 900 people have participated, including 429 students, 469 family members and 2 professors. The initiative aims to encourage students to apply practical strategies to address issues such as infectious diseases, single-use plastics, environmental pollutants, solid waste management and water use, as well as their impact on human and planetary health.

The initiative has achieved substantial changes in behavior aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 11 and 12. Additionally, results show an increase in critical thinking skills in students. Moreover, students use didactic activities that allow them to validate progress in the acquisition of key concepts on the topics covered. The working groups establish performance indicators to quantify the effectiveness of the actions they implement at home. Furthermore, the results indicate that the interest of families and students in environmental issues has increased. All these facts and results demonstrate that our idea is a Prototype and not a Concept.

After three years of implementation, we see that our initiative has a positive impact and now we believe it is the right time to take it to the next level. We want to digitize all the progress and lessons learned in order to reach even more people and improve the effectiveness of the environmental literacy process. This will allow us to inspire and motivate citizens towards civic action, using unconventional education strategies that take advantage of the close relationship between technology and human beings. We want to give greater meaning to technology, turning it into a mechanism to make better decisions.

To achieve this, we plan to develop the EcoHealth mobile application, which will be a key tool for our initiative. However, as our team's expertise is not in technological or digital fields, we recognize the need to connect with networks of experts who can guide us on how to develop this application successfully. We believe that joining the MIT network will provide us with the resources and support we need to develop the application effectively.

We are particularly interested in participating in MIT's leadership and coaching courses to improve our skills in this area. Additionally, we hope to connect with stakeholders, industry leaders, and government sectors through Solve's network, which can help us to identify potential partnerships that could help us advance our solution. This will be critical to the success of our initiative, as we want to ensure that our solution is sustainable and has a long-term impact.

While we recognize that financial support may be available through Solve, this is not our primary goal in applying to the program. Instead, we are seeking access to technical, legal, and market expertise that can help us overcome the specific barriers we face in developing our solution. We believe that Solve's network of partners can provide us with this support, which will be essential for achieving our goals.

The climate-environmental crisis is currently posing threats to ecosystems and human life. While it is crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate sources of environmental pollution, it is also essential to engage civil society, including youth organizations and local communities, in addressing these global challenges. To address this need, we created Health +1.5ºC, an innovative initiative that empowers first-year medical students to address the adverse effects of climate change on human health in a practical and participatory way.

Unlike traditional classroom learning, Health +1.5ºC focuses on peer education and participatory learning. Each group of students is assigned a management indicator related to a specific health problem related to climate change, such as infectious diseases, single-use plastics, or water use. Students then work together to develop and implement practical actions in their homes that address the indicator, such as reducing single-use plastics, reducing water consumption, identifying household chemicals with endocrine disrupting potential, and identifying hotbeds of proliferation of mosquitoes that transmit diseases such as Dengue. The initiative has led to a significant reduction in plastic waste, a decrease in the purchase of household products that contain emerging pollutants due to their chemical content, and a decrease in the sources of proliferation of communicable disease vectors. Above all, it has motivated common people to take environmental action and make informed decisions about the activities that can impact the environment.

Since its launch in 2020, Health +1.5ºC has involved a total of 900 participants, including 429 students, 469 family members, and 2 teachers. The initiative addresses the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 11, and 12. The impact of  Health +1.5ºC goes beyond its immediate participants. By training medical students to take action on climate change, we are creating a new generation of health professionals who are better equipped to address the public health challenges of the 21st century. Health +1.5ºC has the potential to inspire and catalyze broader positive impacts in healthcare and climate change, by promoting sustainable healthcare practices, advocating for policy change, and raising awareness of the links between climate change and health.

But the impact of Health +1.5ºC goes beyond its immediate participants. By training medical students to take action on climate change, we are creating a new generation of health professionals who are better equipped to address the public health challenges of the 21st century. We believe that Health +1.5ºC has the potential to inspire and catalyze broader positive impacts in healthcare and climate change, by promoting sustainable healthcare practices, advocating for policy change and raising awareness of the links between climate change and health.

This project has been the winner of several awards that recognize its impact in the participating communities such as: Lueny Morell (2022): 

https://www.istec.org/blog-mie...

Macondo (2022): 

https://revistaentornos.com/se...

UN CC Champions 2020 (2020):

https://www.uncclearn.org/es/r...

Our impact goals for the next year and the next five years are centered around Health +1.5ºC, an innovative initiative that seeks to empower first-year medical students to take practical and innovative action against the harmful effects of climate change on human health. Our ultimate goal is to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals to lead the charge in creating a more sustainable and resilient healthcare system that can better address the public health challenges of the 21st century.

 In the coming year, we plan to extend the reach of our Health +1.5ºC initiative to an even greater number of people. To achieve this, we will launch an electronic application that provides concrete information, examples of sustainable activities, and strategies for everyday practices that are easier to implement. Through partnerships with like-minded organizations and institutions, as well as the power of social media and our students' networks, we aim to reach 5,000 active users in the first year.

 Looking ahead to the next five years, we are committed to making an even greater impact on healthcare and climate change. Our vision is to reach a minimum of 1,000,000 active users of our app, including students and families at schools and medical institutions throughout the region. We will achieve this by collaborating with other organizations and institutions to integrate our initiative into the curricula of medical schools and other education settings, such as schools in the natural sciences. By connecting with potential allies in local and national governments, health NGOs, environmental initiatives, and the private sector, we will work together to promote sustainable healthcare practices, advocate for policy change, and raise awareness of the links between climate change and health.

  We believe that by offering small incentives, such as discounts for accumulating green points through the app, we can inspire individuals and companies to commit to sustainability and social responsibility in their places of operation. Our strategy will have far-reaching impacts, strengthening the decision-making capacity of young people and vulnerable communities and helping to prevent diseases associated with climate change and environmental pollution. Join us in our mission to create a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

Project Health +1.5ºC is an educational program designed to enhance critical thinking skills about climate change, environmental pollution, and their impact on the health of the planet and people. The program is integrated into the Cellular Biology course within the Medicine major at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. So far, a total of 900 people has participated, including 429 students, 469 family members, and 2 teachers. Of the participating students, 77.9% are women and 22.1% are men, with an average age of 17-18 years.

The initiative aims to encourage students to implement practical strategies to address issues such as infectious diseases, single-use plastics, environmental pollutants, solid waste management, and water use, as well as their impact on human and planetary health. The focus of the project is preventive and highly oriented towards increasing knowledge on these issues in students' families. It is a way of transferring knowledge from the university to families. Each group is assigned performance indicators related to the chosen topic; the results show the effectiveness of their actions and the increase in awareness among family members about the topics covered. Hence, the initiative has achieved substantial changes in behavior aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 11, and 12.

The results of progress in critical thinking skills in the students show an increase in the sub-skills studied: thinking alternatives (97%), drawing conclusions (87%), examining evidence (88%), discussing ideas (97%), describing results (97%), accessing the credibility of statements (73%), self-examination (71%), and categorization (97%).

To monitor progress in knowledge on the subject studied by each group at home, students use didactic activities related to key concepts on the topics covered. Similarly, the working groups establish performance indicators that allow them to quantify the effectiveness of the actions they implement in their homes. For example, the indicators include the average reduction of vector breeding sites in participating homes (69.4% reduction), the average reduction in the amount of products found in the home with carcinogenic potential (75.2% reduction), the average reduction in the amount of products found in the home with endocrine disrupting potential (31.8% reduction), the average reduction in the amount of single-use plastics found in participating families (61% reduction), the average increase in the correct classification of solid waste in participating families (90.5% increase), and the average reduction in water use (m3) used in participating families (average reduction per family 5 m3).

Furthermore, the results indicate that families' interest in environmental issues increased from 48% to 72%, and students' interest increased from 53% to 84%. This link shows the values of each of these indicators:

https://view.genial.ly/64483ce...

Project Health +1.5ºC is an innovative pedagogical approach designed to educate first-year Medicine students about the impacts of climate change on life on Earth. By focusing on the dangerous increase in global temperatures by 1.5ºC, the project highlights the potential irreversible damage to the planet's ecosystems and natural resources. The project seeks to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to tackle health problems such as vector-borne diseases, the health risks associated with microplastics, the effects of environmental pollutants with carcinogenic or endocrine disrupting potential, and household solid waste management. The aim is not just to teach biology concepts, but to apply them in real contexts through the situated cognition model, which encourages meaningful learning and the transfer of knowledge to real-life situations. 

The project engages students in work groups who visit study homes to establish a baseline of the family's understanding of the subject. The students identify the level of knowledge of the family members, good environmental practices related to the subject, and opportunities for improvement. The project applies questionnaires to assess perceptions and previous knowledge, and the students jointly define the actions that will lead the family to develop sustainable habits in their homes. This way, the project aims to motivate family members to become agents of change who contribute to being part of the solution. In the long term, the project seeks to form alliances with schools to build communities where all members contribute from their experience and knowledge. 

The project seeks to integrate the digital skills of the students through the EcoHealth mobile application, allowing them to link the project to their social networks and reach more people. We also want to involve government agents and the private sector, so that environmental actions give green points to users and provide discounts on some products supplied by these companies, engaging the industrial sector in actions of social and environmental responsibility. 

The project has received recognition from the Lueny Morell award (2022, awarded by innovaHiEd Academy), the Macondo award (2022 awarded by the Universidad del Norte) and the 2020 UN CC Champions award (2020, awarded by The ONE UN Climate Change eLearning Partnership). The project aims to demonstrate that young people can drive positive change and increase the number of people impacted by raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting sustainable habits through educational initiatives. 

Our project has a Blog where we document our experiences addressing environmental issues and their impact on human health. However, our primary focus is to develop a state-of-the-art mobile app that enables individuals and communities to make informed decisions about environmental factors that are often overlooked in everyday decision-making. For example, the app will provide information on which cleaning products are free of endocrine disruptors, which products have a higher water footprint in their preparation, and which chemical compounds in plastics have adverse effects on human health and the environment. Additionally, the app will inform users about the air quality in their geographic location, the risks associated with weather issues in their area, and recommend actions to reduce exposure to these factors.

 Our app will leverage cutting-edge technologies such as AI, and SMS to provide users with personalized information and tools to reduce their carbon and water footprint. Using artificial intelligence algorithms, the app will analyze user behavior and provide personalized recommendations for a more sustainable life. The SMS functionality will allow people without Internet access to participate in the program.

We strongly believe that technology can play a fundamental role in environmental education and improve our understanding of the impact we have on the planet. Our commitment to integrating a wide range of technologies and knowledge systems ensures that our solution is accessible, adaptable, and effective in addressing the pressing environmental challenges we face as a society.

Our leadership team consists of two women and one man, all from different regions of Colombia, bringing diverse cultural characteristics to our team. We value diversity, equity, and inclusivity in our work, and we strive to ensure that all members of our team are respected, supported, and valued.

In terms of our participants, we work with students from diverse backgrounds in the Colombian Caribbean region, which is traditionally an underserved territory. Our approach begins with students, but we also involve their immediate family, friends, and neighbors. We believe that our prototype should be freely available to anyone, and we encourage the participation of a wide range of people in diverse communities.

We always take into consideration the cultural and social skills of our participants. As we move forward, we plan to add a social worker and other professionals who are focused on community work to our team. Our goal is to create an inclusive and equitable environment that addresses disparities and strives to eliminate unique and systemic barriers that have prevented the full participation of marginalized groups.

We are committed to not engaging in or associating ourselves with discrimination of any kind based on gender, race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, sex, or sexual orientation. We believe that by embracing diversity, equity, and inclusivity, we can achieve our mission of promoting sustainable and critical thinking in an effective and impactful manner. 

Our business model centers around providing climate literacy to diverse populations through a unique approach of implementing teaching and learning activities that students can easily replicate with their families, neighbors, and friends. By involving students and their social circles, we have the potential to impact larger sections of the community from within. We believe in empowering members of the community to take ownership of the program by involving them in the development and measurement of its effectiveness, rather than relying on outside institutions. This approach not only enhances the impact of our program but also fosters a sense of community ownership and sustainability. In terms of revenue, we plan to explore different avenues such as sponsorships, grants, and partnerships with local institutions to fund our activities and ensure the sustainability of the program in the long run.

Our plan for becoming financially sustainable is to first utilize the funding from the Sover Challenge to cover the initial expenses of developing and implementing our technological tools. In the long term, we aim to expand the reach of our initiative and generate revenue through multiple streams. 

One potential source of revenue is to partner with national retailers that share our environmental concerns. We could offer discounts or other benefits to EcoHealth users who purchase from these retailers, which would help to incentivize the use of our platform while also providing financial support. 

Another approach is to work with local governments, who can use EcoHealth as a tool to promote sustainable initiatives in their communities. We could use data and analytics to demonstrate the positive impact of these initiatives, and in turn, governments could provide tax discounts to individuals who promote these initiatives and provide evidence of their implementation. 

In addition, we may explore other potential revenue streams such as offering paid consulting services to businesses seeking to become more environmentally sustainable. Overall, our goal is to build a financially sustainable model that not only covers our expected expenses but also allows us to continue expanding our impact and reach in promoting environmental sustainability. 

Thus far, we have been able to secure two grants from our university to support the development of our teaching and learning activities. These grants have been instrumental in providing us with valuable guidance and assistance, and have totaled nearly US$1,000. 

Additionally, the Project has obtained several awards that recognize the impact in the participating communities. These awards have helped to elevate the profile of our initiative and showcase its unique value proposition to potential supporters and partners. 

The awards received are: 

 Lueny Morell (2022) with  US$2,000 funding: https://www.istec.org/blog-miembros/2022/10/22/profesores-de-la-universidad-del-norte-colombia-obtuiendo- the-lueny-morell-award-for-educational-innovation-in-steam/  

Macondo (2022) with US$200 funding: https://revistaentornos.com/semana-catedra-europa-con-finlandia-vera-de-tcherassi-distinguida-por-su-compromiso- of her with-la-salvaguarda-del-arbol-macondo / 

UN CC Champions 2020 (2020): https://www.uncclearn.org/es/r... -transmitted-by-vectors-in-colombia/ 

Furthermore, we are looking for parnertships with a number of national retailers who are eager to sponsor our initiative by offering discounts and benefits to EcoHealth users. Although these conversations are still in progress, we remain optimistic that these partnerships will provide a reliable source of income to sustain our project.