The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) held a special debate on education and well-being with the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). The event marked the second collaboration between the two global initiatives of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF).
Held at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha last week, the session was aimed at ensuring influential outcomes are reached in healthcare and education innovation in Qatar, the region and across the globe. The partnership between the two global initiatives supports QF’s continuing efforts in making great strides to promote a well-rounded healthy and educated society.
Speakers at the session were CEO of WISH Egbert Schillings, director of Education Programming for CARE, USA Joyce Adolwa, president of the Palestine Technical University professor Marwan al-Awartani and director of the European Institute of Education and Social Policy Janet Looney.
The 50 attendees of the session discussed the relationship between learning and well-being, including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and ethical dimensions.
Schillings said: “Access to quality healthcare and quality education are at the core of any thriving society. The brilliance of the vision of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, is to make a difference in these two pivotal, but complex, areas, not least through WISE and WISH. Because ultimately, investment in education will not achieve its goals if a society is unhealthy. In turn, only an educated population can make the right choices in their personal healthcare and become co-creators of health and wellbeing together with the system that serves them.”
WISH has also established the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Children Forum, chaired by professor the Lord Richard Layard, director, Wellbeing Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The forum explored the role of education in well-being as part of its remit to produce evidence-based reports and provide recommendations for policymakers at the second WISH Summit that took place in February 2015 in Qatar.