Minor on sustainable healthcare launches with support from a Kiem grant
Leiden University and the LUMC will introduce a new ‘Sustainable Health and Care’ interdisciplinary minor in September. The organisers received support in the form of a Kiem grant. Lead applicant Martijn Sijbom advises new Kiem projects: ‘Work to a deadline.’
The main aim of this English-taught minor is to show third-year undergraduates from all faculties what is required to make healthcare more sustainable.
‘We are considering different levels’, explains assistant professor and project leader Martijn Sijbom (LUMC). ‘At the individual level: how do you stay healthy? At the next level: how do you organise a healthcare system so that it remains sustainable in the long term? And at the final level: how do you ensure that healthcare is sustainable for the planet? These are such complex problems that they can’t be solved by a single discipline, such as medicine. You need multiple perspectives.’
In the minor, students apply the ‘One Health’ concept, an approach that recognises that humans, animals and the wider environment are closely interconnected and interdependent.
The interdisciplinary Kiem grant enabled the team to appoint a student assistant to provide administrative support to Sijbom. The student also provided feedback on the structure of the minor.
The project group that developed the minor was itself interdisciplinary, with input from the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden Law School, the Faculty of Science, the FGGA and the LUMC. What stood out to you about the collaboration across different disciplines?
‘It takes time to become familiar with one another’s perspectives on sustainability and health. This initially prompted discussion – for example, about the learning objectives – which is good because such conversations are necessary to achieve a good result. Exploring those different perspectives also enriches your own work.
‘It was enormously helpful to have a clear goal. The curriculum for the minor had to be ready by a specific deadline. That gave everyone a sense of momentum, which was great to experience. I’d advise anyone starting an interdisciplinary collaboration to work towards a clear dot on the horizon.’
You mentioned how interdisciplinary collaboration can be beneficial. Can you give an example?
‘One of the people I worked with, Mirjam Sombroek, raised the question of when people have a right to good health and access to healthcare. That is something doctors don’t usually to consider. But the right to healthcare isn’t equally defined everywhere.
‘Another example is the input from Dario Fazzi from the Faculty of Humanities, who explained how the concept of sustainability developed and what was behind it. Those were new insights for me.’
Do you have any other advice for others about to start a Kiem project?
‘Take the time to get to know one another and accept that progress may be slower than you’d like. Meaningful collaboration can only develop when you really engage with each other’s disciplines. It took us a year and a half to decide on the structure of this minor. And I that was quite fast.’
What is the Kiem grant?
Through its Kiem programme (2024 – 2026), Leiden University is providing 25 annual seed grants to support new interdisciplinary (interfaculty) research and teaching collaborations and initiatives. Applications for a Kiem grant (€10,000 per project) must involve staff from at least two faculties at the university.