The SPRINGS project consortium held its third annual meeting in Bucharest, Romania, hosted by the University of Bucharest. Over four days, partners from across the consortium came together to review progress, align on next steps, and engage with local stakeholders as the project reaches the halfway point of its journey.
A key focus of the meeting was reviewing progress across the project's work streams and aligning on priorities for the second half of SPRINGS.
Several activities took place throughout the four days:
Student engagement workshop: Led by project partner Three o'clock, this session used the Climate, Water, Health Journey, an educational game developed as part of the SPRINGS project, to raise awareness about the effects of unsustainable human activities on climate change, water quality and the impact of these changes on public health. Participants were students from Environmental Studies, Sociology, andAnthropology MA programmes at the University of Bucharest.
.png)
Partner working sessions: Dedicated internal sessions covered a wide range of topics advancing the project's scientific and strategic work, including: health technology assessment and policy needs as an outcome of SPRINGS; drinking, surface, and groundwater sampling; climate and hydrological modelling; diarrhoeal surveillance and water testing advancements across case study sites; anthropology findings on climate change, water, and diarrhoeal diseases; exploitation of key exploitable results; and planning for an upcoming climate workshop to be held in Cork in autumn, alongside SPRINGS' sister projects.
.png)
PhD conference and poster presentations: Fifteen PhD and postdoctoral students from universities across the SPRINGS consortium presented their research, offering a comprehensive overview of the scientific work being produced within the project and fostering exchange between early-career researchers.
.png)
Local stakeholder meeting: A dedicated knowledge-sharing session was held with Vice-Chancellor Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc, her research team at the Department of Biology of the University of Bucharest. Representatives from the SPRINGS consortium spanning multiple disciplines and work packages participated in the session, which focused on identifying synergies between the department's ongoing research and the needs of the SPRINGS project, and vice versa.
.png)
The SPRINGS consortium wrapped up a productive four days in Bucharest with renewed momentum heading into the second half of the project.
About the project:
SPRINGS is an EU-funded project focused on addressing the impact of climate change on waterborne diarrheal diseases. Diarrheal diseases are currently the third leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age globally. Compounded by global climate projections indicating increased precipitation, flooding, and drought, there is a looming threat to the progress made in reducing diarrheal disease burden. To inform and prioritise effective political responses, SPRINGS is building 4 case studies in Italy, Ghana, Romania, and Tanzania with contrasting vulnerabilities.