This six week course will consist of a mixture of lectures, field visits, workshops discussions and assignments. It is composed of two modules: the first module consists of a series of lectures from renowned experts in the field that will help you complete the first assignment. The second part takes a bird eye’s view and requires you to take a step back. Also, in this part of the course two experts in the field will guide you, but in a very different way.

The concept of the so-called ‘pathogenic landscapes’ will be introduced with focus on the interactions between land, people, disease vectors, pathogens and their animal hosts. With many people in one place, pathogens can easily and permanently circulate, and quickly jump between livestock, wildlife and humans. Moreover, vectors and vermin, such as mosquitoes and rodents, can simply settle in the environments that humans create.

              In this elective, we will also address the topic of a healthy living environment and the choices that we need to make in spatial planning to achieve the best balance between the societal demands in housing, climate adaptation, biodiversity and well-being of the inhabitants and keeping. By using a specific aspect, namely vector borne diseases (such as Lyme disease, malaria, dengue), we will guide you along the pitfalls of this complicated, yet highly insightful problem. We will use insights from tropical countries to show that there is nothing simple about control of vector borne diseases but also visit Nature-based solution in Delft with Floris Boogaard (Hanze), an impression (November 2024):

Furthermore, we explore different theoretical perspectives to understand complex socio-ecological problems and how to tackle them through decision tools and governance strategies. The essential parts of this course are to get a general understanding of the main issues concerning the governance of public health issues, exemplified with vector borne diseases, in the context of a the healthy living environment.