O.5. Scientific session: Public health diplomacy education for a complex world: preparing the future workforce
Abstract
Public health is increasingly confronted by complex, interconnected and transnational challenges, including armed conflicts, pandemics, widening inequalities, economic instability, climate and environmental crises, geopolitical tensions and the growing influence of powerful commercial actors. These threats affect all regions, and including countries of the European continent, where public health systems must respond to migration, ageing populations, climate-related emergencies, disease risks and shifting political landscapes. Addressing such challenges requires stronger collaboration, negotiation, coordination and communication across governments, sectors and civil society. Public health diplomacy offers an important framework for advancing health equity. Schools and programmes of public health play a critical role in preparing the future workforce to navigate this rapidly changing environment. Public health graduates increasingly need competencies in diplomacy, including negotiation, intercultural communication, systems thinking, advocacy, partnership-building, and the ability to engage with diverse actors. Yet these competencies remain underdeveloped in many public health curricula globally. This panel explores the emerging field of public health diplomacy and its implications for education and workforce development. The first presentation sets the global context by examining contemporary needs for public health diplomacy. The second presentation provides an overview of the concept and shares lessons from the Public Health Diplomacy Summit, which brought together representatives from schools and programmes of public health from around the world. The third presentation examines public health diplomacy from a humanitarian perspective, highlighting its relevance in fragile and crisis settings. The fourth presentation discusses global challenges in implementing public health diplomacy and the implications for transforming public health education. The panelists will reflect briefly on key questions, such as: How can health diplomacy competencies be embedded in public health education? What learning experiences best develop these capacities? What is the role of interprofessional education in strengthening diplomacy skills?
Key messages: • Public health challenges are increasingly complex and global, requiring stronger diplomacy skills, such as negotiation, collaboration and intercultural communication to effectively address issues.
• Public health education must evolve to include public health diplomacy competencies, to prepare future professionals with the skills to operate in complex, multi-sector and international environments.
Speakers/Panellists: Jihad Makhoul
Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Beirut, Lebanon
Josep Figueras
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels, Belgium
Ashish Joshi
School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, USA
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BibTeX
@article{associationofschoolsandprogramsofpublichealth2026scientific,
title = {{O.5. Scientific session: Public health diplomacy education for a complex world: preparing the future workforce}},
author = {Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, University of Memphis School of Public Health (USA) and Joseph Figueras},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.306},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.306},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - O.5. Scientific session: Public health diplomacy education for a complex world: preparing the future workforce
AU - Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, University of Memphis School of Public Health (USA)
AU - Joseph Figueras
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.306
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.306
AB - Public health is increasingly confronted by complex, interconnected and transnational challenges, including armed conflicts, pandemics, widening inequalities, economic instability, climate and environmental crises, geopolitical tensions and the growing influence of powerful commercial actors. These threats affect all regions, and including countries of the European continent, where public health systems must respond to migration, ageing populations, climate-related emergencies, disease risks and shifting political landscapes. Addressing such challenges requires stronger collaboration, negotiation, coordination and communication across governments, sectors and civil society. Public health diplomacy offers an important framework for advancing health equity. Schools and programmes of public health play a critical role in preparing the future workforce to navigate this rapidly changing environment. Public health graduates increasingly need competencies in diplomacy, including negotiation, intercultural communication, systems thinking, advocacy, partnership-building, and the ability to engage with diverse actors. Yet these competencies remain underdeveloped in many public health curricula globally. This panel explores the emerging field of public health diplomacy and its implications for education and workforce development. The first presentation sets the global context by examining contemporary needs for public health diplomacy. The second presentation provides an overview of the concept and shares lessons from the Public Health Diplomacy Summit, which brought together representatives from schools and programmes of public health from around the world. The third presentation examines public health diplomacy from a humanitarian perspective, highlighting its relevance in fragile and crisis settings. The fourth presentation discusses global challenges in implementing public health diplomacy and the implications for transforming public health education. The panelists will reflect briefly on key questions, such as: How can health diplomacy competencies be embedded in public health education? What learning experiences best develop these capacities? What is the role of interprofessional education in strengthening diplomacy skills? Key messages: • Public health challenges are increasingly complex and global, requiring stronger diplomacy skills, such as negotiation, collaboration and intercultural communication to effectively address issues. • Public health education must evolve to include public health diplomacy competencies, to prepare future professionals with the skills to operate in complex, multi-sector and international environments. Speakers/Panellists: Jihad Makhoul Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Beirut, Lebanon Josep Figueras European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels, Belgium Ashish Joshi School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, USA
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -