Dr Elżbieta Czapka from the Centre for Sustainability UG, together with a team of researchers from the Pandemic Centre based in the Alrek Health Cluster, Bergen: Professor Esperanza Diaz - Director of the Centre, Marta-Johanna Svendsen and Andrea Magugliani received funding of £195,400.00 for a project entitled 'Increasing migrants' access to vaccine information in the Tri-City'.
The winning project includes research activities, the implementation of which, due to the need for a rapid response, is not possible by applying for other existing funding mechanisms.
The project addresses a significant social and civilisational problem with both global and regionally relevant implications. It focuses on access to vaccination knowledge among refugees, disparities in vaccination calendars, low enforcement of vaccination obligations, and the anti-vaccination movements' growing activity. Sharing knowledge, asking questions and collectively addressing concerns about vaccination can influence a sense of collective responsibility regarding public health in Poland, which can benefit both immigrants and the Polish population.
Education and engagement activities will be carried out in a foreign partnership as part of the project. The actions will consist of three stages:
- diagnosis - including discussion of the social challenges of the pandemic as well as preparation of both diagnostic and didactic and consultation materials,
- intervention and inclusion - including monitoring the invitation of other migrants and organising and carrying out interventions,
- evaluation in the Tri-city area, including conducting structured in-depth interviews, analysing the results, and preparing recommendations.
The project will last 12 months and end on July 3, 2024.
The NAWA Urgency Grants programme aims to support international cooperation of research teams or international mobility of scientists undertaken in response to sudden, critical, unforeseen social, civilisational and natural phenomena with global or regionally relevant consequences. Implementing projects under the programme enables researchers to collect data, gain new knowledge, and investigate the effects and significance of an extreme phenomenon or event as soon as possible after its occurrence. Participation in the programme enables scientists to undertake intervention research in international collaboration and develop solutions relevant to responding to disruptive events.