The 2026 WHO European Healthy Cities Annual Business Meeting and Technical Conference will take place in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, from 16–18 June 2026, bringing together city leaders, policy-makers, practitioners, researchers and partners from across the WHO European Region.
The in-person conference will mark a major milestone for the Healthy Cities movement, celebrating 40 years since the adoption of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, while also launching Phase VIII of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network (2026–2030). The theme for 2026, “Healthy Cities, Healthy Generations”, focuses on how urban environments can be designed and governed to enable people of all ages to thrive across the life course, while strengthening resilience for future generations to withstand and adapt to public health challenges.
Call for abstracts now open
The call for abstracts is now open, inviting individuals and institutions to share experiences, evidence, policies and innovations that support healthier, more equitable and more sustainable cities.
Abstracts should align with 1 or more of the 7 Phase VIII pillars (the 7Ps) of:
- People – cities that prioritize people: equity, dignity and well-being for healthy generations;
- Place – cities that nurture: designing places for connection, safety and well-being;
- Planet – cities that regenerate: climate action and one health for all generations;
- Participation – cities that listen: participation, power-sharing and trust for healthy generations;
- Prosperity – cities that care: shared prosperity for all generations;
- Peace – cities that unite: peace, safety and social cohesion across generations; and
- Prepare – cities that prepare together: planning, learning and readiness.
Further details on the submission criteria are provided in the abstract guidelines.
The deadline for abstract submission is 27 February 2026, 23:59 CET. Submissions will be peer-reviewed by the WHO European Healthy Cities Network’s Scientific Committee. The applicants will then be informed whether their abstract has been accepted by the end of March 2026.
For questions or technical issues, please contact: eurohealthycities@who.int.