Global Health Requires Social Sustainability
The Master’s programme in Public Health Science distinguishes itself by making social sustainability its core and red thread. The students gain an in-depth understanding of how social, economic, and environmental factors coincide and affect health in a globalized society.
Widening health gaps, increased climate changes, and rising age of retirement are all examples of societal challenges which put forth new demands regarding the future work in public health. Therefore, we are launching a Master’s programme in Public Health Science with a focus on socially sustainable development from a global perspective. The aim is to give the students tools to work with public health matters within both national and international contexts.
We connect the programme directly to global societal challenges and sustainability goals. We want to strengthen the students’ ability to analyse and affect health systems, policies, and social development—in Sweden and globally. In order to build a more sustainable world, it’s not enough to simply convey knowledge. We also need to be daring and show that change is possible
, says Susanna Lehtinen-Jacks, program representative at MDU.
Local and Global Connections
The programme distinguishes itself by making social sustainability its core and red thread. The students gain an in-depth understanding of how social, economic, and environmental factors coincide and affect health in a globalized society. Through this perspective, the students learn to connect local public health efforts to global processes and develop measures meant to foster social justice, equality, inclusivity, and democracy, which are cornerstones of long-term socially sustainable development.
Connections to Current Research
The programme is research-related and connects to current research conducted at MDU. The teachers are researchers themselves and have solid, current knowledge about, among other things:
- how workspaces can serve as arenas for improved health and reduced climate impact,
- how digitalization reshapes public health efforts and welfare services,
- as well as how digital health literacy affects people’s ability to use digital healthcare services in an equitable way.
This knowledge is directly integrated with the programme and provides the students with current and applicable competence.
Hybrid Format Offers Greater Flexibility
The Master’s programme is geared towards people who want to work strategically with public health matters, policy development, and societal change—both nationally and internationally. The programme is available both through on-campus learning and distance learning, a hybrid format that offers more flexibility and enables both on-campus and distance-learning students to participate in the programme together in real time. As a student, you can choose to study the programme either on our campus in Västerås or remotely.
With this format, we can create an international and interdisciplinary learning environment, which strengthens the global perspective we want our students to develop
, says Susanna Lehtinen-Jacks.
