Denis Coelho led international digital conference on ergonomics and human factors

Denis Coelho, Associate Professor Work Organisation at the School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU), led the NES 2023 digital conference (Nordic Ergonomics and Human Factors Society) with about 70 participants from the Nordics, Europe, the USA and Brazil.

“The purpose of the NES conference is to provide a peer-to-peer forum for people from academia, industry and government institutions to exchange experiences with each other on current practices in ergonomics and the work environment, says Denis Coelho, president of the Nordic Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (NES).

"Eronomics in the Digital Age"

This year's conference had the theme "Work Smart - Ergonomics in the Digital Age", which the two journals "The International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics" and "European Journal of Workplace Innovation" had special issues for conference presenters following the event.

Denis Coelho highlights the three keynote speakers at the webinar: Magga Dóra Ragnarsdóttir from Iceland, Kati Päätalo from Finland and Gabriella Duca from Italy as some of the highlights of the conference. They lectured on brain health in the digital age, the digital workplace and human factors in a disaster-resilient society.

“They were all fantastic,” says Denis Coelho.

Hightligts the student prize winners

He also wants to highlight the NES student prize winners from Sweden and Finland who presented their award-winning degree project in human factors and ergonomics.

There were also oral sessions with researchers and practitioners from Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA. He himself multitasked as conference chairman, Zoom host, speaker and presenter. There were also some participants from JTH at the webinar.

"Take a stance"

The NES conference has been organized since 1969 and this was the first time it was held digitally, following a board decision to alternate between physical and digital conferences in order to, among other things, take a stance for more sustainable travel.

The message from the discussion panel at the end of the conference was that one must jointly commit to a green transition and support resilient crisis preparedness activities in the Nordics, Europe and the world.

“We have an important role as Human Factors and Ergonomics Expertise to make this transition effective as an inclusive and effective societal transformation without leaving no one behind," says Denis Coelho.