One of the internationalization programs implemented by the Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Diponegoro which is run every year is the Summer Course Program. In 2023, the 5th Summer Course held again with the topic “Community Participation in Public Health: Public Health Coping and Adaptation Response to Climate Change in Coastal Areas” from 4th to 12th July 2023. This program is an intensive educational program that designed to provide additional knowledge, practical experience, and personal development opportunities related to the impact of climate change on community health.
This program succeeded in involving 155 participants from 25 countries around the world. The 2023 Summer Course at FKM Undip was held for 8 days by presenting 20 learning modules involving 17 speakers from various institutions, namely the Faculty of Public Health Universitas Diponegoro, Central Java BPBD, Central Java BMKG Climatology Station, Semarang City Environment Service, Semarang Central Java Province Food Security, NGOs, and community groups related to Jamu and Garbage Banks. Apart from that, in this Summer Course there are also 2 modules presented by international speakers, namely Prof. Kun Hsien Tsai from National Taiwan University and Prof. Dr. Mohammad Saffree bin Jeffree from Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
In each session, participants seemed to actively participate and discuss each module. Apart from participating through Zoom meetings, several participants also actively participated asynchronously through MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) media. The speakers also often expressed their appreciation for the enthusiasm and activeness of the participants in the discussion sessions. Through this activity, the interaction of participants from various backgrounds has been established, which can broaden social networks to address issues of climate change and global health.
As a form of appreciation to the participants, on the last day of the Summer Course, 12th July 2023, the committee give an award to the best participants and the most favourite participants. The best participants were Zohaib Hassan Sain (Pakistan), Comfort Omogor Esumeh (Nigeria), and Azizul Rahman M. Jamil (Malaysia). In addition, an award was also given to the most favourite participant, namely Reigns N. Andrew (Nigeria).
At the closing session, Muh. Fauzi, PhD as Chair of the FKM Undip 2023 Summer Course Committee conveyed the importance of the role of each individual to reduce the health impacts caused by climate change. In addition, Muh Fauzi, PhD also reminded all participants that in 2024 the 5th ICOPH-TCD conference and 6th Summer Course will be held, and it is hoped that the Summer Course participants in 2023 will be able to participate again in these activities and other collaborative activities.
Dean of FKM Undip Dr. Budiyono also said that it was hoped that this collaboration would not end only at the 2023 Summer Course, but could be continued with other academic collaborations. Besides that, Dr. Budiyono expressed his appreciation to the participants and committee for holding the 2023 Summer Course, especially for the participants who actively participated in live meeting sessions even though they were in an area with a far different time zone from Indonesia.