Information en français – Información en español
The sixth edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop will take place from Tuesday 9 till Thursday 11 June 2026.
The main theme of this year’s workshop is ‘Connecting planetary health, climate justice and community health: from knowledge to impact’.
The Global Community Health Annual Workshop provides a space where community health practitioners, activists, policy makers, and researchers can learn and improve their skills. In 2025 over 500 participants from all regions of the world participated.
Date and theme
The sixth edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop will take place online on Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June 2026.
The health of Mother Earth is inextricably linked to human health and wellbeing. Climate change impacts vulnerable communities the most. It deepens inequalities and threatens both environmental and human health. These challenges also offer opportunities for collective action on the local level, innovation, and climate justice.
This year’s workshop, ‘Connecting planetary health, climate justice, and community health: from knowledge to impact’, invites participants to explore the links between planetary health and community health and wellbeing. We will look into mobilizing communities,including the involvement of young people, as agents of change, ensuring that climate solutions are just, accessible, and impactful taking into account indigenous perspectives. By bridging knowledge with action, we aim to inspire collaborative strategies that address the root causes of environmental degradation while fostering healthier, more resilient communities.
Programme and speakers
We attach great importance to gender balance and Global South – Global North balance in our recruitment of speakers. They should reflect the very diverse and international audience that we seek to connect with. The detailed programme and speakers will be announced in due course.
Format of the workshop
The online workshop will take place on 3 consecutive days, 3½ contact hours per day. To accommodate participants from different time zones, the workshop will be offered twice a day.
- Block 1 will run from 10.00 – 13.30 Paris; 16.00 – 19.30 Beijing; 18.00 – 21.30 Melbourne.
- Block 2 will run from 16.00 – 19.30 Paris; 7.00 – 10.30 Los Angeles; 11.00 – 14.30 Buenos Aires
The workshop uses an interactive format ensuring active participation through a series of online lectures, combined with community heath hubs (working groups).
Community health hubs
The community health hubs (working groups) are offered in different languages including English, French, Spanish and possibly other languages. During the community health hubs participants can share experiences, build their regional and global networks and work on their individual assignments
Assignment
Participants can submit an individual assignment on their learnings of the workshop. Each assignment will be assessed and can be published on the Chair website, for future reference. After approval of the assignment participants will receive a certificate of attendance.
The assignments will be evaluated based on the following criteria: Number of words between 300 and 500 words; Clarity of thought; Reasonable rationale; and Relevant learning shown.
Registration
Participants need to register using the registration link below.
Registration will close on Thursday 4 June 2026, 16.00 CEST.
Participating in the workshop is free of charge. For questions please send an email to info@unescochair-ghe.org.
Who can attend?
Participants are professionals, policy makers, researchers, activists و students from different backgrounds. They can learn and improve their skills on community health while becoming part of an international network. They can get inspired by the diversity of researchers, practitioners, activists and policy makers involved in advancing community health. In 2025 over 500 participants from all regions of the world participated.
Language
The online lectures are held in English, French or Spanish. For translation into 50+ languages, including English, French, Spanish, Persian, Arabic and Chinese, we use an AI based translation app.
Community Health hubs will be organised in different language groups. Participants can indicate their preferred language for the hubs. This year the hubs will be in English, French and Spanish, and other languages depending on the availability of facilitators.
Certificate of attendance and accreditation
After attending the lectures, participating in the Community Health hubs and approval of their individual assignment, participants will receive a certificate of attendance delivered by the organisers. They can also accumulate credits toward registration/re-registration as a health promotion practitioner under the IUHPE Accreditation System.
Organisers
The are organisers are UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, University of Clermont Auvergne, University of Huddersfield, EHESP French School of Public Health, International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), Réseau Francophone International Pour la Promotion de la Sante (RÉFIPS), European Public Health Association (EUPHA) و Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht.
Coordination
- Goof Buijs, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education
- Silvia de Ruiter, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education
Advisory board
- Amets Suess Schwend, Andalusian School of Public Health, Area of International Health, Granada, Spain
- Ange-Marie Nicodème Esse, Justice & Empowerment Initiatives (JEI), National Network of Community Health Activists, Health Access Initiative (HAI), Benin
- Charlotte Marchandise, European Public Health Association (EUPHA)
- Didier Jourdan, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, University of Clermont Auvergne, France
- Liane Comeau, International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE)
- Marie-Renée Guevel, EHESP French School of Public Health, Rennes, France
- Nastaran Keshavarz Mohammadi, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran
- Nicola Gray, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK
- Raúl Mercer, FLACSO (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales), La Plata, Argentina
- Regien Biesma, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Satarupa Dasgupta, Ramapo College of New Jersey, USA
- Sophie Remoue Gonzales, Pediatrics/Adolescent Medicine, Legacy Community Health, Youth engagement Director, IAAH
Previous editions of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop
Global Community Health Annual Workshop – fifth edition 2025
The fifth edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop took place from 10 till 12 June 2025. The main theme of this year’s workshop is ‘Building healthy, fair and climate-smart communities: addressing commercial determinants of health’.
During the workshop the focus was on the impact of the commercial determinants of health on community health and how public health actions can respond to them. Different initiatives with a special focus on participatory methods were explored looking at conflict of interests and possible co-benefits of private sector action for better health on the community level. This was also be the capacity building focus for the participants
For more information:
Global Community Health Annual Workshop – fourth edition 2024
The fourth online edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop took place from 4 till 6 June 2024. The main theme of the workshop was “How can community health contribute to fighting poverty?”. The sub-themes were:
- Day 1 – Poverty and (community) health
- Day 2 – Poverty and climate change
- Day 3 – Empowerment and activism
This year’s focus of capacity-building for the participants was on ‘advocacy and activism’.
For more information:
Global Community Health Annual Workshop – third edition 2023
From 13 till 15 June 2023, the third online edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop took place. The overall workshop theme was “Sustainable community health: practice-based solutions for today’s challenges”. The sub themes were:
- Day 1 – Food security
- Day 2 – Mental health
- Day 3 – Environmental health
Each year the Community Health workshop focuses on practice-based solutions. This year it was on stakeholder engagement and mobilisation of the community.
For more information:
Global Community Health Annual Workshop – second edition 2022
The second edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop was held online from 28 to 30 June 2022. The overall workshop theme was ‘How to build resilient communities for times of crises’. The sub themes were:
- Day 1 – Resilience: giving voice to the voiceless
- Day 2 – Building resilience within health systems
- Day 3 – Emergency Health
For more information:
Global Community Health Annual Workshop – first edition 2021
The first edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop was held online from 6 to 8 July 2021. The overal theme was to explore the diverse practices of community health worldwide, learn from them, and apply those newly acquired skills and knowledge to current/future projects. The sub themes were:
- Day 1 – Community health as a practice
- Day 2 – Mobilizing communities
- Day 3 – Promoting / advancing health and well-being
For more information:
