Deadline: 26 May 2026
WHO/Europe is working with the European Commission, through a contribution agreement, to implement a project entitled “Addressing mental health challenges in the European Union, Iceland and Norway”. A core focus of the project is to mainstream mental health across the health sector by strengthening training and capacity-building for selected health workers. This includes equipping the public health workforce with evidence-based mental health promotion and prevention interventions, including anti-stigma programmes, and supporting their resilience in times of crisis.
Within this framework, in collaboration with the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), WHO/Europe is organizing a capacity‑building programme to strengthen public health workforce capacity for mental health promotion and prevention.
The capacity-building programme consists of an interactive webinar series spaced over 6 weeks between September and October 2026, followed by an in‑person synthesis conference in November 2026.
The programme is designed for public health professionals working in policy, practice and research, as well as collaborators from mental health services and community settings. The first cohort of the accredited programme will target 120 professionals working in European Union (EU) countries, Iceland and Norway.
The curriculum is aligned with the WHO–ASPHER Competency Framework for the Public Health Workforce in the European Region (2020) and the ASPHER Core Curriculum for Public Health (2024). Successful participants will receive an EUPHAcademy Certificate and Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) credits.
Background
Mental health promotion and prevention are increasingly recognized as core public health responsibilities. However, recent consultations led by WHO/Europe and partners have identified persistent challenges, including limited clarity on effective population‑level interventions, gaps in measurement beyond service utilization and prevalence indicators, insufficient integration of lived experience, and difficulties in collaboration across clinical and public health sectors. Persistent stigma, including within professional and institutional settings, further constrains effective action.
The programme aims to support participants to:
- understand mental health from a population health, promotion and prevention perspective;
- apply evidence‑informed approaches and appropriate indicators for mental health promotion and prevention;
- work constructively with mental health and psychiatric professionals;
- meaningfully involve people with lived and living experience in public mental health action; and
- integrate mental health considerations into broader health promotion, disease prevention and “mental health in all policies” approaches.
Target audience
The programme is designed for public health professionals with an interest in mental health who are engaged in policy, practice, research or strategic functions in EU countries, Iceland and Norway. The primary target audience includes public health professionals working in national public health institutes or agencies, regional or local health authorities, research institutions, and ministries of health or social affairs. Typical roles may include policy officers, public health officers, epidemiologists, surveillance and data analysts, community health workers, health promotion practitioners, researchers, cross‑system liaison officers, and strategic communicators.
Programme content
- The programme comprises a series of 5 interactive webinars, delivered between 10 September and 15 October 2026 (11:30–13:00 Central European Summer Time), covering the following topics:
- strategies for addressing and reducing stigma
- advancing research on mental health prevention
- intersectoral collaboration – “mental health in all policies”
- integrating lived and living experience
- integrating mental health data for surveillance and monitoring.
Following the webinar series, participants will be invited to a 1‑day, in‑person synthesis conference on “Strengthening public health practice in mental health”, to be held on 10 November 2026 in Bilbao, Spain, as a pre-conference event of the European Public Health Conference. The synthesis conference will consolidate learning from the webinar series and provide a platform for exchange, reflection and forward‑looking action.
Participants will also have the opportunity to register separately for the European Public Health Conference, subject to the conference registration conditions. Early‑bird registration rates apply until 10 July.
Accreditation
Participants will be awarded 7.5 APHEA credits for completion of the webinar series, with up to 12.5 APHEA credits for participation in both the webinar series and the synthesis conference. To receive the EUPHAcademy Certificate, participants must attend all webinars (live or recorded), complete pre‑ and post‑assessments, and submit a completed workbook. Conference participation is optional and provides additional credits.
Eligibility for accreditation is restricted to professionals who are currently working in EU Member States, Iceland or Norway. However, to promote broad knowledge sharing, recorded sessions and accompanying resources are openly accessible to all interested individuals, regardless of country or professional role, with no application required to view the materials.
How to apply
Interested candidates are invited to submit their application via the online EUPHAcademy registration system (see link).
Applications must include the following documents:
- Cover letter (maximum 500 words), addressing:
- current role and organization;
- how the applicant’s work relates to mental health promotion and/or prevention;
- what the applicant hopes to learn from the programme and how they plan to apply this learning; and
- how the applicant intends to share learning with colleagues and/or their institution.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) of maximum 2 pages, submitted in a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)‑compliant format. (Please note, CVs should not include a home address, phone number, date of birth, photograph, marital status or other personal identifiers.)
Selection will aim to ensure balanced representation, professional relevance and meaningful inclusion of people with lived and living experience.
Application deadline: 26 May 2026
Notification of selected participants: 5 July 2026
Please note that a limited number of places are available.