The Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto hosted the international training programme "Nano4Aquaculture: One Health Solutions" from 20 to 24 July. The programme was delivered as a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) funded by Erasmus+ and organised within EUGLOH – the European University Alliance for Global Health. Dedicated to promoting innovative solutions for more sustainable aquaculture, the programme brought together students and academic staff around the One Health approach, fostering international and interdisciplinary collaboration.
After an initial online learning phase, the programme culminated in an intensive week of on-site activities at ICBAS, bringing together 18 master's and doctoral students from higher education institutions in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary and Spain.
Throughout the week, participants explored the challenges of sustainable aquaculture through an interdisciplinary approach that brought together veterinary, environmental and biomedical sciences with technological innovation. The programme included workshops, practical sessions, case studies, technical visits and collaborative teamwork, culminating in the presentation of the projects developed before an international panel.
Coordinated by Sofia A. Costa Lima, a researcher at ICBAS and member of the One Health Office, the course aimed to demonstrate how nanotechnology and other innovative solutions can help address the challenges facing aquaculture, while promoting animal health, human health and environmental sustainability.
According to the researcher, the programme provided “a unique opportunity to demonstrate, in practice, how chemistry can serve as the link between different fields of knowledge, such as biology, environmental science and engineering, brought together to address a real-world challenge: sustainable aquaculture through a genuine One Health approach.”
Image: ICBAS.
