Trialogue Days: Towards Better Health for All Planetary Life Forms
Trialogue Days: Towards Better Health for All Planetary Life Forms
Three Countries. Five Days. Seventy-Five Experts. These were the main ingredients for the Trialogue Days—a shared mission to bridge the gaps in knowledge, policy and action that stand in the way of a healthier planet for all. Added to this was a mix of hands-on workshops, panel discussions, immersive visits to a poultry farm and a community health centre, pitches by young researchers, boardgames, a skit, and even a rap song—all about heat, air, water security, zoonotic diseases, resilient health systems, global mobility and migration, antimicrobial resistance, and mitigation and adaptation, each issue viewed from the diverse perspectives of scientists, clinicians, lawyers, policy makers, human rights activists, government representatives and journalists—and we had a platform that allowed participants to rethink their roles in tackling environmental health and crises.
In December, at the Trialogue Days—Planetary Health from Different Perspectives: Mind the Gap in Bengaluru, Indian, Swiss and Ugandan experts stepped out of their comfort zones to collectively address issues not directly within their purview by collaborating and sharing knowledge with all the other participants from various disciplines.
For instance, the panel on heat explored a diverse range of perspectives on the effects of rising temperatures, considering historical, economic, and health-related dimensions—including both communicable and non-communicable diseases such as vector-borne illnesses like dengue and malaria, as well as kidney-related conditions. The discussion also highlighted the systemic impact of heat, which drives migration and often forces people into lower-quality of life conditions. This sparked a dynamic exchange, revealing parallels, connections, and opportunities linking to the broader themes discussed at the Trialogue Days.
After Trialogue Days, participants were invited to submit projects emerging from the event for a seed grant. Ten proposals were submitted and will be reviewed. Another outcome was a rap video by Science Rapper Jon Chase, who has worked with the BBC and NASA in the past and engaged with participants at the Trialogue Days and performed live. Additionally, an illustrated children’s book on planetary health is being developed with Indian publisher Pratham Books. The book is based on questions from the general public in the three countries that were answered by experts.
Trialogue Days was organized by a collective of scientists based at the University of Zurich, the Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University in Uganda, the Indian Institute of Science and Swissnex in India, expanded on the decade-long Dialogue Days partnership between the University of Zurich and Makerere University. It was brought to India as an outcome of the Indo-Swiss AMR Innovation Dialogue.
