Pre-conference: Healthy settings, healthy lives: advancing the Settings Approach in health promotion (HPRO)

Tuesday 11 November, 09:00 – 17:00 Helsinki time
(with network lunch at 12:30)


Organised by

EUPHA Health promotion section

Background

This full-day pre-conference will explore the Settings Approach in health promotion—a recognized strategy that emphasizes health where people live, learn, work, and play. Participants will engage with diverse examples from policy, research, and practice, highlighting how integrating health into everyday settings (schools, workplaces, cities, rural communities, prisons, healthcare settings, etc.) can drive equity and improve outcomes. Special attention will be paid to participatory and equity-focused methodologies.

Target audience

Researchers, practitioners, students, and policy makers.

Objectives

  • To revisit the theoretical and historical foundations of the settings approach in health promotion;
  • To provide a conceptual basis and critical reflection of the setting approach in health promotion;
  • To explore practical applications and examples implemented in diverse settings across Europe;
  • To share tools, strategies, and lessons learned from local and regional case studies;
  • To examine emerging and non-traditional settings for health promotion;
  • To foster networking, dialogue, and future collaborations among practitioners, researchers, and policymakers.

Programme

10:00 – 10:15 | Welcome & Opening Remarks
Camila Picchio, Vice President EUPHA Health promotion section

10:15-10:30 | Intro to the Settings Approach: Why now?
Marion Porcherie, France

10:30 – 11:00 | Keynote session: From Ottawa to the future: the power of Settings in health promotion
Kevin Dadaczynski, Germany

  • Historical evolution and future directions
  • Framing the role of equity, co-creation, and system thinking

10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee/tea break

11:00 – 12:30 |  Health where we live, learn, work, and play: case studies from diverse settings
10 minutes presentation + 7 minute Q&A each

  • Schools as health promoting environments - Karina Leksy, Poland
  • Health promoting hospitals and health services - Birgit Metzler, Monika Simek, Austria
  • The prison setting to promote health equity - Michelle Baybutt, United Kingdom
  • Community spaces to reach underserved groups - Camila Picchio, Spain
  • Healthy universities - Elisabeth Nöhammer, Austria

12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch & Networking
13:30 – 15:00 | Parallel Workshops (Choose 1 of 4)

Participants choose one breakout session to explore practical approaches:

Workshop A: Co-designing health promotion in migrant and refugee settings (co-host Sónia Dias, EUPHA Migrant and ethnic minority health section)

  • Participatory tools for working with diverse communities
  • Overcoming structural barriers and building trust

Workshop B: Evaluating settings-based interventions (led by Ursula Griebler and Marion Porcherie)

  • Health Promotion in the workplace setting
  • Measuring impact and sustainability with realist methods
  • Tools and frameworks for evaluation

Workshop C: Rural health promotion (led by Geir Arild, Rural health promotion working group)

  • Promoting health in local settings: schools, municipalities, farms, sports clubs
  • The Settings Approach and co-creation with locals
  • Tools and strategies that work in small communities

Workshop D: Tools as drivers for capacity-building in community health promotion (led by Christina Plantz, Annegret Dreher, Jennifer Hubrich)

  • Provide an overview of tools used to scientifically guide processes, strengthen quality and systematically implement effective needs-based policies, interventions and structures for health promotion.

15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee/tea break
15:30 – 16:45 | Roundtable discussion: Future-forward settings: innovation, inclusion and intersectoral collaboration

  • Main barriers and opportunities for the integration of setting approach in health systems.
  • How do we ensure inclusion, sustainability, and innovation?
  • Reflections from different workshops

Moderator: Eric Breton, President EUPHA Health promotion section

  • Panel members:
    • Katarzyna Brukało, Poland
    • Ursula Griebler, Austria
    • Geir Arild, Norway
    • Sónia Dias, Portugal
    • Christina Plantz, Germany

16:45 – 17:00 | Closing & Takeaways

  • Reflections from facilitators
  • Summary of key insights

Call to action: Building a coalition for settings-based health promotion

Registration

The registration fee is EUR 160. Networking lunch and refreshments are included.