WHO / Aleksandra Olsen
© Credits

Summer school in Nice, France: A systems approach to the promotion of healthy lifestyles

18 – 20 July 2023
Nice, France

The WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases of WHO/Europe, the Université Côte d’Azur and the Ulysseus European University, in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and York University, are holding a 3-day summer school course on how to navigate the concept of systems thinking and systems-based approaches from theory to practice.

The course will provide insights on how these approaches can facilitate consensus among different stakeholders while also providing a platform for strengthening multisectoral collaboration across complex systems.

Day 1 of the summer school will be live streamed online. On that day, Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO/Europe Regional Director will participate in a panel discussion, followed by keynote presentations from distinguished speakers. Please use the attached link for registration.

The Systems Approaches to the Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles and Ageing summer school is designed for PhD students, early and mid-career professionals, including researchers and policy-makers, and postgraduate students working in the field of health with a particular focus on the prevention of noncommunicable diseases through the promotion of physical activity and healthy diets.

The school will support participants in:

  • understanding systems thinking theory, techniques and tools;
  • applying systems-based approaches to strengthen multisectoral collaboration across complex systems;
  • identifying common patterns in complex systems and how to mitigate them to implement policies and strategies more successfully; and
  • developing skills to transfer research into policy.

The training will take place from 18–20 July 2023 in Nice, France. The teaching language will be in English.


Day 1 agenda

18 July 2023, 09:00 – 17:00

Welcome & opening

  • Stéphane Ngo Mai, Vice-President, Université Côte d'Azur
  • Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director, WHO Regional Office for Europe
  • Gauden GaleaStrategic Adviser to the Regional Director, Special Initiative on NCDs and Innovation, WHO Regional Office for Europe

Morning: panel discussions and key-note presentations

Panel discussion
  • Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director, WHO Regional Office for Europe
  • Stéphane Ngo Mai, Vice-President, Université Côte d'Azur
  • Iveta Nagyova, President of the European Public Health Association
  • Milka Sokolović, Director-General of the European Public Health Alliance
Presentations
  • Healthier choices: Behavioural insights and behavioural economics to nudge people towards adopting healthy behaviours and combating NCDs, Iveta Nagyova, President of the European Public Health Association
  • The need for ‘all of society approaches’ and engagement of civil society for the positive development of NCD prevention policies, Milka Sokolović, Director-General of the European Public Health Alliance
  • Systems thinking and complexity science for healthy living and healthy ageing, Ruth Hunter, Professor, Queen's University Belfast
  • Promoting systems, resilience and well-being approaches in public health by enabling participative, forward-looking, and interconnected communities of practice of public health authorities, Dorota Sienkiewicz, Senior Policy Coordinator EuroHealthNet

Afternoon: Interactive sessions

  • How to use systems approaches to promote cross & multi sectorial collaboration? Nick Cavill, Senior Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bristol
  • Becoming a systems thinker, Chloe Clifford Astbury, Post-doctoral Fellow, York University, Ruth Hunter, Professor, Queen's University Belfast, Ione Avila-Palencia, Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast