wellbeing

24
Feb
2026
Development of a Greek National Network of the UNESCO Chair GHE confirmed

Development of a Greek National Network of the UNESCO Chair GHE confirmed

On Thursday December 18th, 2025, Professor Didier Jourdan, Chair holder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education (GHE) and Artemis Tsitsika, Affiliated Professor and National Representative for Greece of the UNESCO Chair GHE and Head of the MSc “Strategies of Developmental and Adolescent Health” of the Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) signed a pre-agreement on behalf of the UNESCO Chair GHE and the MSc “Strategies of Developmental and Adolescent Health” of the Medical School, NKUA in Greece. Through this pre-agreement, the intention to develop a Greek National Network of the UNESCO Chair GHE was confirmed.

Empowering youth by developing youth well-being centres, digital education, and community engagement

The Greek National Network will focus on supporting the development of youth well-being centres for children and adolescents based on the WHO guidelines that support somatic and psychosocial health, school life and learning, mental health, digital literacy, as well as prevention goals focusing on well-being, social emotional empowerment (SEL) and lifestyle medicine throughout the country.

The Network will also develop Train the Trainer curricula related to the development and behaviour of youth, environmental challenges and positive parenting (parent academies). Participation of the Network in the Global Permanent Observatory of the impact of Digital Education on Adolescent Health and Well-being (G-POD) and the Erasmus Project Culture, Literacy and Psychosocial Skills for Students Mental Health (CLIPS ) are also included in the agreement. In all activities of the Greek National Network, youth participation is of great value.

Advocating for Adolescent Health

In the run-up to the official confirmation of the collaboration by signing the pre-agreement two national events took place focusing on advocating for adolescent health, highlighting mental health, well-being in the digital age and adolescent medicine.

For more information:

Posted by Didier in News
08
Jan
2026
UNESCO Chair endorses the Helsinki statement on Investing in Health and Well-being

UNESCO Chair endorses the Helsinki statement on Investing in Health and Well-being

The Helsinki Statement on Investing in Health and Well-being is one of the outcomes of the 18th European Public Health Conference. Urging bold investment in health systems, embedding equity, using “Health in All Policies”, protecting public health from misinformation, and measuring well-being beyond GDP, seeing health as an investment for sustainable societies, not a cost, linking human health with planetary and social sustainability, and promoting an “economy of well-being”.

The Helsinki Statement on Investing in Health and Well-being, remains open for endorsement. Organizations across Europe can still sign and add their voice. EUPHA will build on it throughout 2026, especially during European Public Health Week (4–9 May 2026), when they will work with partners to bring the statement to life in countries and communities.

EPH Conference Helsinki 2025 Joint Statement

Posted by Didier in News
18
Nov
2025
UNESCO IITE Publishes Briefs on Education for Health, Well-being, and Personality Development

UNESCO IITE Publishes Briefs on Education for Health, Well-being, and Personality Development

UNESCO’s Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) has published the first two briefs in a series, titled “How the Educational Environment and Curricula Contribute to Learners’ Personality Development, Health, and Well-being“ and “Teacher personality potential and well-being as drivers of learners’ personality development, health, and well-being“. These publications are part of the international initiative “Empowering through Education for Health and Well-being in a Learning Environment That Fosters Personality Development,” a collaboration between UNESCO IITE and the Investment in the Future Charitable Foundation which aims to advance teachers’ professional development.

Focus on holistic educational programs

The first brief “How the Educational Environment and Curricula Contribute to Learners’ Personality Development, Health, and Well-being” examines educational programs that prioritise different aspects of promoting health, psychosocial well-being, and the development of learners’ personality potential. It provides descriptions and analyses of these programs, offering insights for policymakers, education specialists, and school leaders at national, regional, and local levels as well as secondary school teachers and principals. The publication aims to support efforts to transform education to meet current challenges. This publication is available for download in Russian and English.

Focus on teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction

The second brief “Teacher personality potential and well-being as drivers of learners’ personality development, health, and well-being” explores personal and school-related factors that affect teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction and recommends diagnostic tools and support practices. Special attention is given to teachers’ personal and professional development, self-efficacy, and collective efficacy. The publication is available for download in: Russian and English.

For more information visit the UNESCO IITE website.

Posted by Didier in News
17
Nov
2025
Planning for healthy and thriving learners: Global launch – 20 November 2025

Planning for healthy and thriving learners: Global launch – 20 November 2025

UNESCO is launching Planning for healthy and thriving learners – a coordinated programme of work to embed health and well-being into education sector planning.

Planning for healthy and thriving learners aims to translate high-level commitments into concrete action, placing learners’ health and well-being at the centre of education systems. It provides practical tools, builds capacity, and empowers education authorities to take the driving seat in mobilizing support and resources from other sectors.

Planning for healthy and thriving learners builds on UNESCO’s Strategy on Education for Health and Well-being and  the Making Every School a Health-Promoting School  initiative, and is advanced in collaboration with  the  Inter-Agency Group on School Health and Nutrition. 

The Chair is one of the contributors to the strategic resources for planning and policy-making. The briefing note, a high-level advocacy tool for decision-makers, and the Handbook on integrating health and well-being into education sector planning, which provides step-by-step guidance for ministries of education and partners across the sector planning cycle, from analysis and policy formulation to implementation and monitoring.

The launch welcomes education stakeholders, planners and partners. It is organized by UNESCO, including its Headquarters, International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), and Regional offices in Dakar and Harare, in partnership with the African Union (AU) and the Inter-Agency Group on School Health and Nutrition. You can register for the global webinar (hybrid) – connecting Addis Ababa with participants worldwide to showcase tools and country experiences, on 20 November 2025, afternoon.  Interpretation will be available in English, French and Portuguese for all sessions, with Spanish added for the webinar.

More information
Register for the webinar

Posted by Didier in News
04
Nov
2025
Special issue: Child and Adolescent Health in Europe and Central Asia

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

Posted by Didier in News
04
Nov
2025
Governments across Europe and Central Asia adopt new WHO strategy to give every child a healthy start in life

Governments across Europe and Central Asia adopt new WHO strategy to give every child a healthy start in life

Source: WHO

All 53 Member States of the WHO European Region have unanimously adopted a bold new strategy to improve the health and well-being of children and adolescents across Europe and Central Asia.

Titled “A healthy start for a healthy life: a strategy for child and adolescent health and well-being in the WHO European Region 2026–2030”, and developed jointly with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the framework sets a clear vision for a region where every child and adolescent can grow, learn and thrive in good health – physically, mentally and socially.

Adopted at the 75th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Copenhagen, the strategy is the result of extensive consultation with governments, experts, civil society and young people themselves. It aims to tackle long-standing inequities in child and adolescent health and to respond to new challenges – from mental health and digital risks to the impacts of poverty, climate change and conflict on young lives.

The new strategy calls on countries to strengthen health systems and social policies that support children and families from the very beginning. It also emphasizes the importance of protecting children from harm, including exposure to violence, commercial exploitation, unhealthy products and the potential negative effects of social media. The strategy urges countries to act decisively on several fronts:

  • Participation and empowerment
  • Health equity and inclusion
  • Mental health
  • Health promoting schools
  • Safe and supportive environments
  • Digital well-being

As a WHO Collaborating Center for Reseach in Education and Health the Chair has provided input for the new strategy as well as the underlying evidence.

More information on the WHO website

Posted by Didier in News
18
Sep
2025
Research shows multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescents

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.

Posted by Didier in News
08
Jul
2025
Recording available first webinar in series on future-proofing child and adolescent health in Europe and Central Asia 

Recording available first webinar in series on future-proofing child and adolescent health in Europe and Central Asia 

The first webinar in the webinar series on future-proofing child and adolescent health took place on 17 June 2025.
The webinar presented key findings from the new WHO/UNICEF fact sheets, which highlight urgent trends and emerging priorities for child and adolescent health and well-being in Europe and Central Asia. These evidence-based insights are informing the development of the forthcoming Regional Strategy on Child and Adolescent Health and Well-being (2026–2030).

In case you missed it—or would like to revisit the discussion—the full recording of the webinar is now available in English and Russian on the Health Systems for Early Childhood Development YouTube channel.

🎥 Watch the webinar here
🔎 You may view the PowerPoint slides here
💡 View the WHO/UNICEF fact sheets here

Upcoming webinars

The conversation continues with the next two webinars in the series:

  • Thursday 10 July, 10.00 CEST — A healthy start for a healthy life: orientation on the forth-coming WHO/UNICEF strategy for child and adolescent health and wellbeing in the European Region, and experiences from countries tackling child and adolescent health challenges 
  • Tuesday 16 September, 10.00 CEST — Implementation challenges and approaches

This webinar is organised by UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO), WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe), and the International Step by Step Association (ISSA) under the auspices of the Health Systems for Early Childhood Development initiative. 

Posted by Didier in News
19
May
2025
Why Schools Should Prioritise Health: Expert Voices from the Schools4Health Initiative

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

Posted by Didier in News
07
Apr
2025
Webinar School is more than a place to learn – 22 June 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:

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

More information and registration

Posted by Didier in News