dr. J. da Costa Junior (Jairo)

NEXTGEN4PH

Alliance VU-UT Spark Grant 2025-2026

Planetary Health Challenges (PHCs) like climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution, and socioeconomic inequalities present serious threats to the health of both present and future generations. To confront these pressing environmental and health issues, higher education must equip upcoming professionals to effectively respond to and foresee PHCs. It is vital to integrate innovative reasoning and problem-solving approaches, such as systems and futures thinking, into social sciences and engineering programs to develop the necessary capacity for addressing these challenges. To bridge this gap, the project "Transdisciplinary Education for Future Social Entrepreneurs and Engineers Tackling Planetary Health" builds on the project "Pathways to Planetary Health (2024-2025)" to co-design and implement educational resources at VU-UT. An overarching goal is to unite students and academic staff from both universities to enhance curriculum development using the Planetary Health Education (PHE) Framework. The project uses project-based learning and involves over 400 undergraduate and graduate students across four educational programmes, working on real-world PHCs. It collaboratively creates a handbook along with a participatory modelling tool aimed at effectively addressing PHCs. The findings will offer insights into transdisciplinary teaching and recommendations for improving course design and content. Furthermore, these findings will guide future research and educational practices within the field of PHE.

AI-Driven Systemic Design Methodologies for Planetary Health Actions

PhD project 2024-2028

Research corroborates the importance of systems thinking in grasping the complexity and interconnections of planetary health. However, stakeholders encounter methodological, cognitive, and institutional obstacles that hinder the effective application of systems design approaches. In this project led by PhD candidate Dulaj Perera and supervised by Dr. Jairo da Costa, Wouter Eggink and Geke Luden, design acts as a conduit between theory and practice, creating opportunities to merge systems science with design and engineering to develop innovative systemic methodologies and tools. This study delves into ways to enhance these methodologies and examines the promise of AI-assisted participatory modelling tools in boosting stakeholder engagement in planetary health challenges. It identifies the challenges stakeholders face in applying systems design approaches and investigates how AI can promote more inclusive and practical participation. Many stakeholders struggle to manage and interpret the complexities of planetary health when employing systemic tools, preventing them from deriving meaningful insights. Current methods inadequately present this complexity in an understandable way for stakeholders, limiting their ability to make sense of information and make informed decisions. This study highlights the role of design in fostering transdisciplinary collaboration and supporting informed decision-making in planetary health. It contends that AI-assisted participatory modelling tools can distil complex insights, enhance accessibility, and reduce biases in decision-making. By fostering engagement and adaptability, these tools empower stakeholders to actively participate in addressing planetary health challenges.

Pathways to Planetary Health

Introducing a Systems Design Approach for Sustainable Futures in Engineering Education 2024-2025

As scholars and professionals expand their understanding of anthropogenic environmental changes that threaten both human and planetary health, they must consider the interrelated social, economic, and environmental factors. This requires acquiring new skills and knowledge to better understand the complex and reciprocal relationship between human well-being and the natural systems upon which they rely on it. Designers and engineers play a critical role as change agents due to their capacity to design systemic interventions that promote climate action. In light of ongoing environmental and health crises, it is essential for these professionals to develop competencies in systems-based, future-oriented, and integrative approaches to health. However, existing literature reveals few efforts to examine the application of such holistic approaches in the education of design and engineering students. This project propose that leveraging the unique abilities found in creative fields—such as design, creative technology, and engineering—by collaborating with students to create systemic interventions targeting climate action, along with fostering new ways of thinking and learning, can lead to more holistic and effective solutions for the challenges of planetary health. Beyond curriculum development, fostering a fundamental shift in mindset is crucial for promoting planetary health.

This project was reviewed and approved by the NES Ethics Committee under application number 240650 and funded by the National Committee on Sector Plans (NCSP) as part of the structural funding allocation for sector plans in the Netherlands, provided by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science.