WHO Europe Summer School on NCD Prevention and Healthy Ageing

The 2027 WHO Summer School on Systems Thinking and Innovation for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases and a Healthy Ageing Population in the WHO European Region is an in-person professional learning programme in Nice, France. Organised by WHO/Europe’s Division of Prevention and Health Promotion, the WHO Collaborating Centre at Université Côte d’Azur and Ulysseus European University, it brings together researchers, public health practitioners and policy-makers.

Participants explore how health outcomes emerge from interactions between people, organisations, policies, environments and behaviours, rather than isolated risk factors. Through keynote presentations, expert lectures, workshops and practical exercises based on real-life scenarios, they learn to identify systems archetypes, examine policy scenarios and use decision-making tools. Project-based work encourages participants to apply these methods to challenges arising in their own professional settings.

The planned curriculum connects systems thinking with noncommunicable disease prevention, healthy ageing, public health innovation and the translation of research into policy. Topics include opportunities for artificial intelligence in public health and the role of innovation ecosystems. The emphasis is on developing solutions informed by people’s needs, understanding unintended consequences and strengthening collaboration across sectors to support more effective health policies.