collaboration

14
Apr
2026
Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres, Lyon, 7–9 April 2026

Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres, Lyon, 7–9 April 2026

From 7 to 9 April 2026, Lyon hosted the first Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres, with the theme ‘Collaborating for a Healthier Future’, alongside the One Health Summit 2026 and bringing together global experts from hundreds of institutions designated as WHO Collaborating Centres across more than 80 countries. This Forum aims to strengthen the scientific and technical contribution of these centres to the WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 14) and the “Health for All” agenda.

During a session dedicated to the role of Collaborating Centres, the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, and Didier Jourdan, Head of the FR-135 Collaborating Centre and holder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, spoke jointly. Hans Kluge set out the strategic framework for the European Region, emphasising the need for strong networks of Collaborating Centres to support countries in the context of multiple crises.

Didier Jourdan illustrated this framework based on the experience of WHO Collaborating Centres, highlighting three key developments for the network:

  • moving from scattered initiatives to genuine work programmes aligned with EPW2 and GPW 14;
  • strengthening links with the WHO Academy to roll out evidence-based training on a large scale; and
  • using health education and literacy as a structural response to the crisis of mistrust in science and institutions.

Together, they championed the idea of Collaborating Centres conceived not only as ‘centres of excellence’, but as interconnected ‘centres of capacity’, serving education systems, health professionals and communities.

Read the presentation of Professor Didier Jourdan

Posted by Didier in News
12
Mar
2026
La Trobe University and UNESCO Chair GHE join forces to reduce health and social inequities

La Trobe University and UNESCO Chair GHE join forces to reduce health and social inequities

La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, has become the newest member of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education community following the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Clermont Auvergne Foundation, host institution of the UNESCO Chair. The agreement was signed on 22 January 2026 at La Trobe’s Bundoora campus by Professor Coral Warr, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation, and witnessed by Professor Didier Jourdan, chair holder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education.

Through this partnership, La Trobe joins a global network of universities, institutions and practitioners committed to promoting health, equity and quality education for children and young people in their everyday environments. La Trobe’s contribution will be led by Distinguished Professor Richard Osborne and the Global Health and Equity Development Hub, internationally recognised for its pioneering work in health literacy, including the Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) process and tools to identify and respond to diverse health literacy needs.

The new collaboration will focus on co-producing knowledge, building capacities of education and health professionals, and sharing evidence-informed practices that reduce health and social inequities, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities. Planned activities include joint workshops, case studies, and the co-design of locally relevant interventions and policies at the intersection of health literacy, education and equity.

By joining the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, La Trobe University strengthens the Chair’s multidisciplinary and international community and reinforces its ambition to support institutions and professionals in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to health, education and the reduction of inequalities.

Posted by Didier in News