Education Innovation
Pioneering a transformative educational approach, uniting experts to create a dynamic, evidence-based platform that redefines health education for students across the EU COST area and globally.
One Health
Equipping students with the understanding of interconnected human, environmental and wide-biosphere health domains, enabling them to see the interdependence of well-being, ecosystems, and society as a whole.
Open Technologies
Engaging students in the ethical and transparent use of open-source artificial intelligence and expert systems, fostering critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, development skills and health empowerment.
Undertaken within the framework of the EU COST science and technology cooperation, EU BEACON One Health education -Building Education and One Health with Adaptive Convergence and Open Networks-, is committed to setting a new benchmark for health education among school students. This cross-border initiative convenes a diverse array of experts and stakeholders to design and implement open courseware curricula in the One Health field, to be adopted throughout the EU COST area as part of our action mandate. The educational resources will be freely accessible, adaptable to local contexts, and embedded into existing school curricula, ensuring equitable access to high-quality health education.
Open courseware and implementation of methods: the ambition is to establish a comprehensive body of open courseware and transversal One Health curricula across the EU, ensuring consistent, equitable access to scientifically validated educational resources. The design prioritises equity, gender parity, and biocultural diversity protection as foundational determinants of health literacy. Implementation follows rigorous open science methods, with reproducibility, transparency, and cross-validation embedded at every stage. Courseware will be created, reviewed, and maintained under strict standards of evidence, openly shared for adaptation, and deployed through collaborative action-research missions. This framework invites participation from academia, civil society, business, and public institutions, ensuring knowledge is not only disseminated but actively co-produced across all sectors of society.
Technology, know-how, and student engagement: in parallel, the action will implement a tutor-carer expert system and associated open-source platforms, governed by ethical and legal safeguards, and designed to meet the highest technical standards. All software, data pipelines, and learning tools will be openly coded, commented, and version-controlled to guarantee clarity, replicability, and long-term sustainability. Students will engage directly in this technological development, acquiring not only conceptual understanding but practical competence in open coding practices, adaptation of digital systems, and iterative improvement. This approach ensures that learners internalise the know-how of scientific coding and reproducible analytics, while contributing to the continuous refinement of the tools they use. The integration of such practices transforms technology into a shared learning environment, equipping future generations with the skills to adapt, innovate, and lead in rapidly evolving health and education landscapes.
The urgency of this work cannot be overstated. In a world facing escalating global health crises, climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities, today’s students must be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and ethical grounding to become the leaders of tomorrow. One health is essential in this endeavour, as it addresses the inseparable links between human health, animal health, and the health of our shared environment, providing a unifying framework to reverse destructive trends and foster sustainable societies. By aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being, SDG 4 Quality Education, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 15 Life on Land, and SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals, EU BEACON positions one health education as a strategic, long-term investment in planetary resilience, human dignity and capacity to overcome current crisis while averting new ones.
Our mission is to empower students to become informed, health-literate global citizens, capable of overcoming personal and local challenges while contributing to solutions for complex international problems. By combining pioneering technology with the guidance of educators, researchers, and community leaders, our action will nurture a generation of proactive youth who can shape a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable future, both within Europe and worldwide.