school

Mar

2026

Combating gender-based violence in schools: international webinar and launch of a new training programme

School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) affects millions of students around the world every year. It not only compromises the safety and well-being of children and adolescents, but also hinders their access to inclusive and equitable education.

In this context, UNESCO, the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and UNICEF are organising an international webinar on 18 March 2026 dedicated to preventing and responding to gender-based violence in schools. This event will also mark the global launch of a new online training module on SRGBV, accessible via UNICEF’s AGORA learning platform.

The webinar will bring together government representatives from South Africa, Jamaica and Laos, as well as young leaders, teachers and civil society organisations involved in preventing violence in and around schools. Discussions will highlight concrete solutions for strengthening educational policies, teaching practices and mechanisms for protecting students.

The new online course offers a set of evidence-based resources, including practical tools, feedback and contributions from adolescents, feminist activists, institutional actors and public officials. The aim is to support education systems in developing effective strategies for preventing and addressing gender-based violence.

This webinar is an opportunity to share international experiences and identify levers for action to create safer, more inclusive and gender-equitable school environments.

Practical information

Date: 18 March 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. (Paris time)
Simultaneous interpretation: English, French, Spanish and Hindi
Registration: registration link

Nov

2025

Special issue: Child and Adolescent Health in Europe and Central Asia

A special scientific issue by Public Health in Practice, available on ScienceDirect, brings together key articles that support the new Child and Adolescent Health (CAH) strategy in the WHO European Region by providing analysis, evidence and concrete recommendations for its implementation. The recently adopted strategy ‘A healthy start for a healthy life: a strategy for child and adolescent health and well-being in the WHO European Region 2026–2030’ is the result of extensive consultation with governments, experts, civil society and young people themselves.

The UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education actively contributed to providing the evidence base for the CAH strategy through the article ‘School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region [1]’, which sheds light on the challenges of adolescent well-being, the impact of the pandemic and the importance of an intersectoral approach to schooling.

Other articles included in the special issue are:

[1] M. Limburg, M. Cronin, M. Black, J.C. Inchley, D. Jourdan, C. Jung-Sievers, P. McHale, E. Rehfuess, M.-C. Tsai, N.J. Gray. School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region. Public Health in Practice, Volume 10, 2025, 100654. ISSN 2666-5352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100654

Oct

2025

Schools4Health Policy Brief Published: Creating Green and Healthy Schools for a Sustainable Future

Source: Schools4Health

How can schools respond to the challenges of climate change, declining child wellbeing, and growing inequalities? The Schools4Health project argues that the answer lies in bringing health promotion and sustainability together under one whole-school approach.

Across Europe, nine in ten young people believe that tackling climate change will improve their wellbeing. Their voices remind us that health and sustainability are deeply connected — and that schools are uniquely placed to link these agendas.

While many schools already run health or environmental projects, they are often treated as separate initiatives. This fragmented approach risks missing opportunities to create a stronger, collective impact. The new Schools4Health Policy Brief Creating green and healthy schools for a sustainable future explores how schools can align these efforts, and how the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) framework can provide the foundation for this integration.

What does this mean in practice?

School gardens, green play areas, and outdoor learning that support both physical activity and environmental awareness.
Healthy eating programmes that also reduce food waste and promote sustainable choices.
Whole-school strategies that embed both wellbeing and sustainability into curricula, policies, and partnerships.
Student-led initiatives that empower young people to take action for their own health and the planet.

Lessons from Europe

The brief showcases examples of how countries are already moving in this direction:

Finland integrates wellbeing and sustainability as cross-cutting themes in its National Core Curriculum.
Italy has legislated for climate and sustainability education across all school levels.
The Netherlands is expanding its Healthy School Programme to cover environmental and sustainability issues.
Greece supports teachers with sustainability coordinators at district level.
Hungary promotes environmental awareness from an early age through its Green Kindergarten Network.

Why Schools4Health?

Schools4Health is an EU-funded project bringing together partners from 11 countries to strengthen the Health Promoting Schools approach across Europe. By supporting local pilots, cross-country exchanges, and policy work, the project shows how schools can be catalysts for healthier, fairer, and more sustainable societies.

Our third policy brief, Creating green and healthy schools for a sustainable future, sets out recommendations for policymakers, educators, and communities — from embedding health and sustainability in curricula to building cross-sector structures and empowering students as agents of change.

Read the full brief here.

Access the second brief here: Health Promoting Schools as a Lever for Equity in Education and the first one at: Why Invest in Health Promoting Schools.

Find out more at www.schools4health.eu

Sep

2025

Research shows multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescents

Source: University of Huddersfield

Research into the multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescent well-being has been published in a key journal. The international study was led by the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education. Co-chair holder and University of Huddersfield academic, Dr Nicola Gray, who is renowned for her work on adolescent health, is the lead author of the study now published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Entitled Multiple Impacts on Adolescent Well-Being During COVID-19 School Closures: Insights From Professionals for Future Policy Using a Conceptual Framework, the research included notable academics in the field of adolescent health, including UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education co-chair holder Professor Didier Jourdan.

A consortium of partners composed of various research teams had input into the survey with data drawn from 60 interviews conducted in six languages with education and health professionals across 28 countries during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic amid school closures and re-openings in 2021.

Multiple impacts found

It found multiple, intersecting impacts of the pandemic on adolescent well-being and the potential for widening inequalities, making a case for caution regarding school closures in future health crises.

School closures were found to have impacted all five UN H6+ domains of adolescent well-being, which comprise good health and nutrition; connectedness; safety; learning; and agency/resilience.

The professionals reported that closures also widened inequalities for certain groups of students, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable.

The study concluded that education policies need to see schools as infrastructure that supports multiple aspects of adolescent well-being, not just as a teaching-learning system.

In addition, the authors asserted that during recovery from a pandemic, holistic strategies related to adolescent well-being, not just a focus on educational catch-up, are needed to mitigate the long-term consequences of any closures.

More than a place to learn

Dr Gray, Reader in Medicines and Health at the University of Huddersfield, commented:

“Schools are more than a place to learn. They provide welfare and connection for many students, as well as the means to a bright future. Policymakers must recognise multiple impacts of school closures on adolescent well-being and the potential for widening inequalities. The decision to close schools in any future crisis must be balanced against the damage it could do to young lives.”

On the back of the study, Dr Gray was asked by the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe to develop a factsheet detailing the impact of COVID-19 on education in the region, which she presented in June at a WHO/UNICEF webinar.

Dr Gray is also working on another paper on the same topic, to be published in a special issue of Public Health in Practice in the autumn. The paper was facilitated by WHO/Europe to support the development of a new WHO/UNICEF strategy on child and adolescent well-being for Europe and Central Asia. She will speak about this research at a webinar hosted by The Royal Society for Public Health on 22 October. The webinar is titled School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region.

Sep

2025

Webinar 28 October 2025 – Health promotion in the education sector

Time: 8.00 – 9.30 Mexico, 9.00 – 10.30 Colombia, 10.00 – 11.30 Puerto Rico, 11.00 – 12.30 Brazil, 15.00 – 16.30 France

Language: The webinar will be held in Spanish and Portuguese. Translation will be available in 50+ languages, including English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. We will use a translation app based on AI.

Registration: Register here. Registration is free. The link to the webinar will be sent to you after registration.

Información en español, Informações em português

Speakers

Moderator

Prof. Dr. Fernando Peñaranda Correa. He is a doctor, holds a master’s degree in public health, a master’s degree in education and social development, and a doctorate in social sciences, childhood and youth. He is a full professor and senior researcher in the Health and Society Research Group at the National School of Public Health at the University of Antioquia. He is the coordinator of the health education emphasis in the Master’s in Public Health programme. He has taught undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the Faculty and other universities in the country on the following topics: epistemology, qualitative research, ethics and social justice, public health, health promotion, and health education. He has written numerous articles, book chapters, and books in the areas of health education, qualitative research, ethics, public health, and social justice.

Bibiana E. Castro Franco. Psychologist, specialising in social psychology, Master’s degree in Public Health and Doctorate in Human Sciences. Lecturer at the University of Cauca. Department of Education and Pedagogy. Researcher with the Popular and Community Education Group. Member of the Colombian Network for Health Education. CLACSO Working Group on International Health and Health Sovereignty.

Kátia Souto, National Coordinator of the School Health Programme, Ministry of Health, Brazil

Goof Buijs. Manager of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education. After finishing his Master study in Human Nutrition his first job was teaching health science at the Amsterdam teacher trainer institute. Next he moved into the field of health promotion, as health promotion officer in Amsterdam. At the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion NIGZ he specialized in school health promotion, first on the Dutch level to introduce the national health promoting school programme and leading several European projects. In 2007 he became the manager of the Schools for Health (SHE) network until 2017. In 2018, with prof Didier Jourdan, he set up the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, also the WHO Collaborating Centre. His specialisation is bringing health and education sectors together. He is an experienced networker, expert in co-creation, trainer, and organizer of local and global events. He supports cooperation among people, focusing on everyone’s talents and uniqueness. He is an environmental activist for most of his life.

Summary

During this webinar the speakers will analyse experiences with health promotion in the education sector in various countries to identify achievements, challenges and opportunities. Each speaker will share their respective experiences, identifying the progress, strengths, difficulties and challenges involved in coordinating the education and health sectors to promote health promotion and health education in schools. This will be followed by time for attendees to ask questions and make comments on the presentations given by the speakers.

Latin American Network for the Revitalisation of Health Education

This webinar is a part of the “Latin American Network for the Revitalisation of Health Education”. This initiative is being promoted with the participation of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health and Education, the Inter-American Consortium of Universities and Training Centers for Health Education and Health Promotion (CIUEPS), the Brazilian Network of Popular Health Education, the Colombian Network of Health Education and the Regional Office for Latin America of the International Union of Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE/ORLA), with the following objectives:

Promote health education at national and international levels, as a fundamental dimension of the health disciplines, the educational sciences and the social and human sciences.
To recuperate the Latin American production and position it in the regional level, which implies promoting its critical and decolonial approaches. A health education that advocates for social transformation towards a more just and equitable society that guarantees well-being and a life with dignity.
Promote the articulation of the education and health sectors to strengthen the actions of each of these sectors to promote health education, by recognizing education and health as two inalienable, synergistic and interdependent human rights.
Strengthen the theoretical, political and ethical foundations of health education as a requirement for a responsible, productive and ethical pedagogical practice.
To generate a setting for the articulation of academia and civil society that allows Latin American integration in order to share experiences, knowledge and aspirations framed in a collective purpose.
To promote national and international integration with respect to health education as a means for mutual learning and solidarity, and to facilitate cooperative actions in the development of academic-scientific events, research and training processes.

The webinars, open to all interested stakeholders, are a component of the program. They are experiential sessions, lasting 60-90 minutes, with guest speakers who present their reflections on two or three problematic questions to encourage audience participation. Five webinars have been scheduled for this first stage of the program, with an interval of 2 months between each one.

Watch the recordings of previous webinars:

Jun

2025

School supported by Tarang Health Alliance shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize

One of the government schools where Tarang Health Alliance is implementing their comprehensive school health education, NIT-5 School Faridabad, has been shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize in the category of “Supporting healthy lives”. Only ten schools were selected across the globe and it is the only one from India in this category.

Tarang Health Alliance‘s mission is to implement a comprehensive school health program in schools, train teachers, develop innovative health education materials and influence policy to make health education mandatory in Indian schools.

The World’s Best School Prize is conducted by T4 Education in the UK. These most prestigious global schools prizes celebrate the schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls. They share the best practices of institutions that are going above and beyond to transform learning and are having a real impact on their communities and society at large.

The winners of each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will be decided by expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria and revealed in December.

All the Top 10 finalists will also enter into a Public Vote to determine the winner of the Community Choice Award. Learn about the schools’ stories and vote for your favourite.

May

2025

Why Schools Should Prioritise Health: Expert Voices from the Schools4Health Initiative

What makes the Health Promoting School (HPS) approach so essential today? Why should both policymakers and schools invest in it—and how does it help promote core European values like participation, equity, and inclusion? As part of the Schools4Health initiative, partners sat down with leading experts in education and public health to explore these questions and more, delving into what it takes to successfully implement the HPS approach and how projects like Schools4Health can support broader efforts led by organisations such as the WHO.

These are some of the questions the Schools4Health initiative is exploring as part of its mission to embed the Health Promoting School (HPS) approach into education systems across Europe. As part of this effort, partners recently invited two leading experts in education and public health to share their views on why now is the time to integrate health into the very fabric of school life.

From mental wellbeing and physical activity to healthy nutrition, health affects every aspect of a young person’s ability to learn and thrive. And yet, despite mounting evidence, many school systems continue to treat health as an add-on rather than a core condition for learning and development.

In a series of exclusive interviews recorded at the Schools4Health consortium meeting, advisory board members Professor Peter Paulus (Leuphana University Lüneburg) and Trinette Lee (WHO) reflect on the urgent need to rethink how we structure education and how a shift to the HPS model can lead to better outcomes not just for students and teachers, but for society.

The interviews kick off a new video series exploring the role of health in education through the eyes of those shaping policy and practice at the highest level.

Curious about their insights? Watch the first video on our LinkedIn page and follow Schools4Health on LinkedIn to explore the series to learn how schools can become healthier, more inclusive places to grow and learn.

For more insights on the HPS approach, discover the new Schools4Health policy brief, Why Invest in Health Promoting Schools, which outlines why it is a crucial and cost-effective strategy to create healthier learning environments.

Learn more at www.schools4health.eu

Apr

2025

Webinar School is more than a place to learn – 22 June 2025

School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region

13:00 – 14:00 GMT, Wednesday 22th June 2025

Chaired by: Professor Ingrid Wolfe OBE, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Population Health, Consultant Paediatric Population Medicine, Kings College, London

Speakers:

Dr. Nicola Gray, Co-Chair, UNESCO Chair ‘Global Health & Education’
Mary Cronin, Specialty Registrar in Public Health
Dr. Maximilian Limburg, Specialty Registrar in Public Health

A webinar supporting the development of a new WHO/UNICEF regional strategy for Child and Adolescent Health in Europe and Central Asia, as part of our Public Health in Practice Special Issue

This webinar will present a research study that examined changes in adolescent well-being across the WHO European Region following the Covid-19 pandemic. Adolescent well-being was assessed using the UN H6+ framework, which includes: 1) Good health and optimal nutrition, 2) Connectedness, positive values, and societal contribution, 3) Safety and a supportive environment, 4) Learning, competence, education, skills, and employability, and 5) Agency and resilience. Secondary analysis of data from two large datasets concerning adolescents, the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), revealed a decline in well-being across European countries from 2018 (pre-pandemic) to 2022 (post-pandemic). Additionally, the study highlighted a significant widening of educational inequalities in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Key Issues for Debate:

How can we prevent existing inequalities in educational attainment from widening?
How can we improve our data collection strategies about school closure impact for future health crises?
What would an intersectoral strategy on adolescent well-being look like, to minimize the impact of future emergency measures?

More information and registration

Mar

2025

Schools4Health Education and Health Partners Strengthen Commitment to Health-Promoting Schools Across Europe

How can schools, policymakers, and communities work together to make every school a Health-Promoting School? This was the central question at the recent Schools4Health consortium meeting, where partners explored ways to ensure the long-term impact of the project.

Discussions focused on:
✔️ Strengthening collaboration between health and education sectors to embed health promotion in school policies and practices
✔️ Scaling up successful pilot initiatives that improve student well-being through nutrition, physical activity, and mental health support as an entry point to implementing the health-promoting school approach
✔️ Ensuring the sustainability of the Health Promoting Schools approach beyond the project’s duration

Over the coming months, Schools4Health will continue working with partners across Europe to turn these discussions into action, helping schools create environments where students can thrive.

Read the latest update with the press release about the meeting.

school

Combating gender-based violence in schools: international webinar and launch of a new training programme

Practical information

Special issue: Child and Adolescent Health in Europe and Central Asia

Schools4Health Policy Brief Published: Creating Green and Healthy Schools for a Sustainable Future

What does this mean in practice?

Lessons from Europe

Why Schools4Health?

Research shows multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescents

Multiple impacts found

More than a place to learn

Webinar 28 October 2025 – Health promotion in the education sector

Speakers

Moderator

Summary

Latin American Network for the Revitalisation of Health Education

School supported by Tarang Health Alliance shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize

Why Schools Should Prioritise Health: Expert Voices from the Schools4Health Initiative

Webinar School is more than a place to learn – 22 June 2025

Schools4Health Education and Health Partners Strengthen Commitment to Health-Promoting Schools Across Europe

- What is a UNESCO chair

- Values and principles

- Activities

- An open community

- Organization

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