Research axis

Research axis

To accomplish its mission, NOHEIC relies on four research axis, from which priorities are established for the granting of funding to scientific research.  These framework orientations, developed in conjunction with NOHEIC's scientific council, aim to reconcile the elements set out in the agreement that led to the founding of NOHEIC with the needs expressed by the public and the research community.

A: Research Data and Documentation

Facilitate access to research data necessary for studying the impacts of contaminant emissions on health and the environment.

  1. Support the development of data lakes or warehouses aligned with existing initiatives to advance research on the impacts of contaminant emissions on health and the environment;
  2. Facilitate access to research data that are easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable;
  3. Promote the dissemination, understanding, and use of research data, including those related to artificial intelligence.

B: Sustainable health and its determinants

Support the full potential and physical, mental, psychological, and social well-being of current and future generations.

  1. Support the development of knowledge related to contaminant monitoring, characterization, and measurement instruments;
  2. Expand knowledge of the exposome2 and develop indicators to anticipate and prevent deleterious effects;
  3. Assess the impacts of contaminant emissions on human, animal, and environmental health.

C: Society, citizen participation, and regulation

Identify social innovations that serve the sustainable health of communities.

  1. Support citizen science, as well as practices of prevention, management, and remediation of contaminants;
  2. Promote research on the social impacts and externalities of public policies related to contaminant emissions;
  3. Accelerate the development of sustainable health approaches and participatory governance to enhance population health.

D: Innovations in Practices and Industrial Processes

Document sustainable business models that contribute to the socio-ecological transition.

  1. Support practices that improve risk prevention related to occupational diseases and protect workers' health;
  2. Identify improvements in industrial processes that favor the socio-ecological transition from a sustainable development perspective;
  3. Promote research on industrial emissions and the circular economy.
View the founding text (in french)

Footnotes

(Courtesy translation by artificial intelligence)

1. « The transition to a more sustainable economic and social model that renews the way we consume, produce, work and live together, in response to major environmental challenges such as the climate crisis, the scarcity of resources, the accelerating loss of biodiversity and the growing number of environmental health risks. This concept recognizes and seeks to reveal the links between ecology and socio-economics, as well as the ethical and political dimensions involved in the proposed solutions to environmental problems. The socio-ecological transition is made up of several interdependent components, such as the energy transition, the agri-food transition and the climate transition. » Stratégie gouvernementale de développement durable 2023-2028, p. 117.

2. « All the environmental factors to which a living organism is exposed from conception to death and which influence its physiological state. »  exposome | Grand dictionnaire terminologique (gouv.qc.ca).