On February 27, 2024, the CONNEXION project team, including PhD student Yuxiao He and his supervisors Sake de Vlas and Jan Hontelez from Erasmus MC's Department of Public Health, successfully convened the first stakeholder workshop in Mbombela, South Africa. Over twenty local stakeholders from various sectors came together to actively engage in group conceptual model development activities.
The aim of CONNEXION
Three causal loop diagrams were produced to illustrate the interactions between local water management, agriculture, and three critical public health issues: schistosomiasis, malaria, and malnutrition. This event signifies the initiation of consistent stakeholder involvement throughout the four-year project. The outputs will serve as valuable resources for further qualitative analysis and quantitative modelling.
The CONNEXION project, jointly funded by the Dutch Research Council and the National Research Foundation of South Africa, brings together a broad consortium. This includes the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency, Mpumalanga Department of Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Venda, University of Pretoria, Erasmus MC, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, and Deltares. CONNEXION aims to address gaps in understanding the intricate connections between Water-Energy-Food nexus and public health through system approaches and support local decision-making concerning natural resource and public health management.
About RGHI
The Rotterdam Global Health Initiative (RGHI) is the multi-disciplinary global health research and education network of Erasmus University and Erasmus MC. Through our research and education efforts, we seek to help diminish health inequalities between and within countries, improve people’s living conditions, and contribute to more effective and equitable healthcare of good quality worldwide.
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