Urology Week 2011: translating diversity into impact
The international EAU initiative Urology Week 2011 was held during the third week of September. This year the focus was on diversity and the commitment of the participants to make an impact – however big or small.
Urology Week aims to create awareness – this year about prostate conditions and urology as a medical speciality – but awareness is an elusive concept and may work differently for different target groups. Awareness among the general public versus the patients, among the young versus the old, medical professionals versus the press: how do we address all these audiences and how do we reach out to them across so many borders to make an impact?
As Prof. Chris Chapple, EAU Adjunct Secretary General, said earlier this year in his address to Urology Week participants: “Creating awareness about urological conditions and urology is something we do every day in our work - we can make a bigger impact if we join our forces together!”
With this in mind, the EAU has worked hard to aggregate all the activities under one roof and inspire the participants to be creative in their approach to awareness events. In this international context, consistency in the approach to individual Urology Week efforts is not productive – as the participants have different financial resources, target audiences and initial awareness levels. It makes much more sense to support all budding, as well as established initiatives in their diversity of methods and objectives. The role of the EAU here is to help the participants to be more proactive in their approach to exchange experiences and to continue looking for effective methods to spread the message.
This year, the EAU has created a practical toolkit for those who would like to know how to engage their audiences and organise an effective and modern awareness campaign. The Urology Week website also got a makeover and is now an effective point-of-reference for all the participants.
This year’s Urology Week joined more than 30 individual events organised internationally – from the Netherlands and Switzerland to Serbia and Iran.
Here is a recap of some of the events which took place during Urology Week 2011.