Human Welfare Conference 2019 takes place at Green Templeton
Principal Denise Lievesley with the Human Welfare Conference 2019 organizers
The 11th annual Human Welfare Conference took place at Green Templeton on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 May.
This year’s theme was Innovate: Balancing Interests in Resource-Constrained Settings, bringing together global academics, practitioners and graduate students to debate and discuss the topic through lectures, panels, and poster sessions.
A number of Green Templeton College Fellows were among the speakers including Dr Mara Airoldi, Professor Mike English, Dr Alexander Finalyson and Dr Nick Fahy.
The conference was opened by Professor Mrs Goski Alabi, who delivered the David Watson Memorial Lecture, named in honour of the former Principal of Green Templeton College.
Professor Alabi, Vice-Chair, African Network for Internationalization of Education, Ghana, and Professor of Quality Management and Leadership, spoke on the role of higher education and innovations in preparing students for working in resource-constrained settings.
The Innovation in Health Panel (l-r): Research Fellow Dr Nick Fahy, Research Fellow Dr Mara Airoldi, moderator Rosemary Walmsley, Professor Kokila Lakhoo and Doll Fellow Dr Alexander Finlayson
A number of panels followed on day one, bringing together experts in the fields of health and technology, ethical investment, and food to debate how innovations in these areas could help drive future improvements in health and human welfare.
The opening day of the conference was closed by keynote speaker Soledad Nuñez Mendez, former Minister of Housing, Paraguay, and an MPP student at the University of Oxford, who spoke on the challenges in human welfare and potential solutions.
On day two of the conference, attendees heard from Green Templeton Associate Fellow Mike English, Professor of International Child Health, Centre for Tropical Medicine & Global Health, University of Oxford, and Senior Research Fellow of KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Nairobi. He spoke at a session on Innovations in Health about the importance of engaging stakeholders in driving human resource innovation.
Associate Fellow Professor Mike English spoke on day two of the conference
Also speaking in that session was Dr Chris Paton, Group Head of Global Health Informatics, University of Oxford, who discussed the LIFE Project and how to make healthcare training possible without boundaries.
A number of students also took part in the conference through speaker sessions and poster sessions, addressing a diverse range of topics related to human welfare.
Attendees were invited to participate in an Innovation Workshop on day two, led by Dennis West and Victoria Ma from the Organizing Innovation Network, which focused on effective collaboration when developing innovations for positive and effective social impact.
The entire conference was closed by Mihai Lupu, Founder of EduCab, who spoke via video link on how to balance resources for education among urban and rural communities.
More information:
- Human Welfare Conference 2019 homepage
- David Watson Memorial Lecture
- Keynote Lecture
- Innovation in Health Panel
- Ethical Investment Panel
- Food Panel
- Innovations in Health Speaker Session
- Student Speaker and Poster Sessions
- Innovation Workshop
- Closing Lecture
