Climate and health capacity building for climate-resilient health systems: a case study of the ASPHER-GCCHE European course
Abstract
Climate change poses growing risks to population health and health system functioning across Europe. Building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems requires a workforce equipped with appropriate competencies. However, structured climate and health education remains unevenly implemented. This study evaluated the 2025 ASPHER–GCCHE European Climate Resilient Health Systems Course, a large-scale, competency-based online training programme designed to strengthen climate-health capacity among health professionals. We conducted a longitudinal evaluation of a 10-week, open-access, fully virtual course delivered in English between January and April 2025. Participants completed pre- and post-course surveys assessing self-reported confidence across six climate-resilience competency domains using a 10-point Likert scale. Paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests assessed pre–post changes overall and by geographical region. A total of 4432 individuals from 164 countries registered for the course. Among 1029 participants (1029) from 119 countries, 446 participants were from the WHO European Region, met attendance and assessment criteria and were included in the analysis. Statistically significant improvements were observed across all six competency domains (P < .001), with mean confidence increases ranging from 45% to 59%. Self-reported confidence gains were consistent across European subregions, indicating comparable learning effects despite differing policy and institutional contexts. Nearly half of all registrants were from low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the reach of the open-access model. This evaluation demonstrates that competency-based online education was associated with improved self-reported confidence in climate-resilient health-system competencies. Integrating similar training into formal education and professional development pathways may support implementation of climate-resilient and low-carbon health system policies across Europe and beyond.
Related
- Climate and health capacity building for climate-resilient health systems in Europe, 2025
- A.2. Skills building seminar: Six months, one move: SDG and climate health action across the European public health community
- Reimagining social prescribing for climate-resilient and equitable urban health systems
- Building capacity in health systems with and for caregivers: a scoping review
- Building capacity in health systems with and for caregivers: A photovoice protocol
BibTeX
@article{twomey2026climate,
title = {{Climate and health capacity building for climate-resilient health systems: a case study of the ASPHER-GCCHE European course}},
author = {Eric P Twomey and Danielly de P Magalhães and Chiara Cadeddu and Nicola Hamacher and Margaret O’Donnell and Lore Leighton and Robert Otok and Laurent Chambaud and Cecilia Sorensen and Ana-Catarina Pinho-Gomes},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag193},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag193},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Climate and health capacity building for climate-resilient health systems: a case study of the ASPHER-GCCHE European course
AU - Eric P Twomey
AU - Danielly de P Magalhães
AU - Chiara Cadeddu
AU - Nicola Hamacher
AU - Margaret O’Donnell
AU - Lore Leighton
AU - Robert Otok
AU - Laurent Chambaud
AU - Cecilia Sorensen
AU - Ana-Catarina Pinho-Gomes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag193
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag193
AB - Climate change poses growing risks to population health and health system functioning across Europe. Building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems requires a workforce equipped with appropriate competencies. However, structured climate and health education remains unevenly implemented. This study evaluated the 2025 ASPHER–GCCHE European Climate Resilient Health Systems Course, a large-scale, competency-based online training programme designed to strengthen climate-health capacity among health professionals. We conducted a longitudinal evaluation of a 10-week, open-access, fully virtual course delivered in English between January and April 2025. Participants completed pre- and post-course surveys assessing self-reported confidence across six climate-resilience competency domains using a 10-point Likert scale. Paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests assessed pre–post changes overall and by geographical region. A total of 4432 individuals from 164 countries registered for the course. Among 1029 participants (1029) from 119 countries, 446 participants were from the WHO European Region, met attendance and assessment criteria and were included in the analysis. Statistically significant improvements were observed across all six competency domains (P < .001), with mean confidence increases ranging from 45% to 59%. Self-reported confidence gains were consistent across European subregions, indicating comparable learning effects despite differing policy and institutional contexts. Nearly half of all registrants were from low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the reach of the open-access model. This evaluation demonstrates that competency-based online education was associated with improved self-reported confidence in climate-resilient health-system competencies. Integrating similar training into formal education and professional development pathways may support implementation of climate-resilient and low-carbon health system policies across Europe and beyond.
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -