Knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange: Coming to the future, coming from the past

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana)

In public health, every new challenge is a mixture of what is already known and experienced and what is new and surprising in a context that may have changed. For the known part, it would be negligent not to draw on experience and experiential knowledge. Otherwise, history is repeated, efficiencies are reduced, costs are wasted, and human health is not improved as well as it could have been. The COVID-19 pandemic was vivid example of this; many of the prevention and protection policy measures for COVID-19 were similar to those taken during the Spanish-Flu pandemic (physical distance, masks, hygiene), and so was the reaction from the public. Why don’t public health practitioners and policymakers predict the same outcomes from the same actions? It often comes down to a lack of effective knowledge transfer. And for the new and surprising part of health challenges, having a toolbox of possible courses of action that can then be adapted to the new context is equally essential.

The ability to draw on experience, both positive and negative, and thus on history (whether recent or distant) is therefore essential in the field of public health. But how does this knowledge transfer work in public health and in different settings and situations? This course will illustrate different ways and methods for effective and efficient knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange in public health. Using practical examples from around the world and from a variety of health challenges, it will show where and how to gain relevant experiential knowledge when it is required, but also how to document and transfer relevant experiential knowledge to others.

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By the end of the course participants will:

• Value the importance of successful knowledge transfer in public health;
• Know different ways and methods of knowledge transfer of experiential knowledge;
• Know about good practice examples from selected public health agencies;
• Be able to retrospectively and prospectively link theoretical methods of knowledge transfer with the practice of experiential knowledge transfer from their own backgrounds;
• Have new tools to use in their work to transfer knowledge at the individual and organizational level.

None.

• Input (guest) lectures;
• Interactive exercises;
• Peer group interactions;
• Workshops.

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In order to get the Certificate of completion and the 1 ECTS participants MUST:

• Attend at least 80%of the course;
• Attend the plenary(s) offered during the days of the course;
• Actively participate in class;
• Participate in group presentations.

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At least one facilitator will be on-site in Lugano, and some will join online. Participants are welcomed to join either on-site in Lugano, or online. In case of a change of regional policies (e.g., Covid) or personal reasons, the course could change to online. For those on-site, the course will take place at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI).