Public Health and Sustainable Development: Training future generations in a developing country

Abstract

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Colombian Caribbean Region is a priority, specifically in the city of Santa Marta, because in this city are several factors involved in public health problems known as Social Determinants of Health: the city has lack of vegetation and high population density which can be a conditioning factor for the progressive increase in temperature and for heat index; and power outages are common. Therefore, in this paper is presented the curricular design of the course "Public Health and Sustainable Development"offered at Universidad del Magdalena. This course covered three topics in its order: 1) the relationship between sustainability and health; 2) the knowledge about SDGs and their global agenda; 3) and ways for increase healthy life and sustainable development in context. With these three topics the SDGs analyzed were: #3 Good health and well-being #4 Quality education, #6 Clean water and sanitation, #7 Affordable and clean energy, #11 Sustainable cities and communities, and #13 Climate action. The evaluation was based on rubrics, the students presented oral workshops and group written reports, and a final report that addressed the relationship between health and public and SDG. It can be concluded that the students achieved a first level of knowledge in the relationship between public health and the SDGs. This work identified that there are three main environmental problems of the city of Santa Marta: the public supply of drinking water for human consumption, continuous increase of high temperatures, and lack of vegetation. In this way, new buildings must generate an impact on public health, guaranteeing a healthy urban environment. In Santa Marta, the University must have a central role as an integrating axis, promoting healthy and sustainable behavior in society; and based in this work there are elements for a climate emergency declaration in Universidad del Magdalena.