CEHD News Stories

CEHD Forms Partnership with University of Ioannina in Greece to Launch One Health Education Initiative

March 26, 2026

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The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at George Mason University is taking a significant step forward in expanding its global reach in education through a newly formed partnership with the University of Ioannina (UOI) in Greece. The focus of this partnership is the development of an interdisciplinary dual-degree program titled “One Health Education for Global Sustainability” which positions education as a bridge across human, animal, and environmental health systems.

The program integrates learning theory with public health and sustainability to prepare graduates to address complex global challenges. Students will examine how people learn, behave, and make decisions in contexts where human, animal, and environmental health intersect, using education as a lever for systems-level change and more sustainable communities.

The partnership brings together complementary strengths: CEHD contributes its expertise in educational psychology and systems approaches to understanding learning, behavior and decision-making, while the University of Ioannina brings its integrated programming focused on human, animal, and environmental health sciences. In collaboration with George Mason’s College of Public Health, the initiative further strengthens the integration of health sciences and expands opportunities for interdisciplinary research and learning.

Commenting on this initiative, CEHD Dean Ingrid Guerra-López stated, “Many of the most pressing challenges facing our world, whether pandemics, environmental sustainability, food systems, or public health, are deeply interconnected. What is often missing is a deeper understanding of how people learn, make decisions, and change behavior within those systems. This partnership recognizes that education is not separate from these challenges; it is the connective force that allows societies to respond to them more intelligently and collaboratively.”

“What excites me most about this partnership,” Guerra-López continued, “is the opportunity it creates for students to learn across boundaries—across disciplines, across institutions, and across cultures. When students engage with complex global challenges in this way, they begin to see that no single field holds the full answer, and that meaningful solutions emerge through collaboration across different forms of knowledge.”

The One Health Education partnership with the University of Ioannina builds on CEHD’s leadership in interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on the critical importance of communication, collaboration, and capacity building on the global stage. Through the One Health Education initiative, CEHD aims to:

• Expand global and regional relevance through collaborative teaching and research;
• Create new international pathways and opportunities for students;
• Integrate research and practice across education, public health, and environmental systems; and,
• Strengthen CEHD’s societal impact through innovative global collaboration.

The plan to establish the One Health Education dual-degree program is the outgrowth of a long and productive relationship that Anastasia Kitsantas, professor of Educational Psychology at George Mason, has developed with the University of Ioannina. This relationship can be traced back to 2022, when Kitsantas participated in the Pharos Summit which was held in Greece in November of that year. The Pharos Summit, a collaboration between the Institute of International Education (IIE) International Academic Partnership Program, and the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, brought together nearly 70 representatives from 30 universities in the United States and 24 universities across Greece. As one of two delegates from George Mason University, Kitsantas had the opportunity to engage directly with faculty and leadership from the UOI. These interactions during the weeklong event laid the foundation for the development of a formal bilateral partnership.

Reflecting on this experience, Kitsantas noted, “My collaboration with the University of Ioannina began through these early engagements and quickly evolved into an academic partnership. It became clear that we shared a vision for interdisciplinary, globally focused education, grounded in the understanding that educational and psychological theories are essential to advancing One Health.”

Kitsantas offered a brief overview of the planned dual-degree program, including the opportunities it will provide students to broaden their understanding of the role K-12 schools can play in highlighting the interconnectedness of health systems. She also described how the exchange component of this program can provide students with beneficial cultural learning experiences. “Addressing complex global challenges requires scientific innovation alongside an understanding of how individuals learn, think, and change behavior, an integration that led to the development of this dual-degree program,” Kitsantas stated. “Through study abroad and international exchange experiences, the program will offer students the opportunity to engage with peers from diverse cultural backgrounds and gain global perspectives, preparing them to think globally, act thoughtfully, and lead effectively in addressing complex health challenges.”

Dean Guerra-López highlighted another key aspect of One Health Education—namely, its emphasis on enhancing the problem-solving capabilities of students so that they are better able to design solutions which consider the unintended or unforeseen impacts that actions can have on human health, animal health, and the environment. The One Health Education framework is based on the concept that actions can have far-reaching impacts extending well beyond the immediate context in which a problem first appears. Guerra-López elaborated, “A One Health approach encourages students to think more holistically about the consequences of decisions—recognizing that actions in one domain can have cascading effects across human, animal, and environmental systems. That kind of systems thinking is essential if we want to prepare graduates to navigate complexity and lead meaningful change.”

At its core, the One Health approach emphasizes solutions that are responsive to diverse populations and contexts. By integrating perspectives across disciplines and cultures, the program prepares students to design interventions that are not only effective, but also relevant and sustainable in the communities they serve.

The One Health Education partnership aligns with the goals articulated by the Office of the Provost at George Mason, which highlights the need for the university to clearly define an international strategy. Dean Guerra-López says she is confident that this partnership represents a meaningful step in advancing that vision through collaborative academic programs and research.