The World Campus was conceived in March 2020 based on a review of the Inspire2Live 2020 Annual Congress.
Inspire2Live had always been aimed at all cancer patients, irrespective of the type of cancer, country, culture or creed. However it had found its base mainly in Europe and North America. The World Campus broadened the constituency of Inspire2Live to include representatives from all continents. As of September 2021, more than 35 nationalities have joined the campus, covering over 30 countries. The World Campus has also expanded with scholar activists who meet with Patient Advocates as peers.
These two changes have drastically changed both the outlook and the functioning of Inspire2Live. Exchanges between scientists and patients have become the norm in 2020/21. And in the coming year we wish to push peer interaction and collaboration one step further by inviting sponsors to join the World Campus.
I have tried to capture what we do in just seven concepts which highlight our main operating principles:
- Reciprocity: Reciprocity is the building block of all relationships within the World Campus.
- Pooling: All members pool resources whilst themselves being highly-compliant resources.
- Peer review: New initiatives, projects and publication are peer reviewed.
- Brokerage: The World Campus acts as a broker for initiatives and projects with sponsors.
- Context: The World Campus provides a platform for deliberation regarding all projects started and sustained with the goal to maintain relevance by giving a voice to those who know the local context which will be served by the project(s).
- Capacity group: The World Campus could be characterised as a form of capacity building. Ultimately locally active capacity groups will take care of the projects that the World Campus supports.
Finally, I propose that we capture the character of World Campus projects by means of an acronym:
- E.P.I.C. World Campus projects generally aim to provide Education and raise awareness, followed by a peer-reviewed Plan, a set of local Interventions and systematic Care to ensure that projects and achievements are sustained over time.
Jan Gerrit Schuurman
Patient Advocate Inspire2Live