At the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, held in Budapest in 2023, Member States agreed to stimulate a reflection on how cross-cutting enabling factors, such as governance, capacities and resources for environment and health, can be best leveraged to drive progress across the WHO European Region. Within this context, this meeting aims to provide a dynamic platform for open discussion among peers and facilitate the exchange of experiences and ideas, innovative solutions, and frameworks to scale and adopt effective approaches to environment and health governance and capacity-building in countries of the European Region. The meeting will also foster multidisciplinary knowledge exchange, multisectoral alliances, and strong, lasting networks among national executives, in turn driving forward the Budapest commitments to provide a healthier environment for all.
The focus of the meeting will be on accelerating implementation of environment and health policy priorities in response to the triple ecological crisis – environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss – amidst other challenges. Using engaging and dynamic meeting approaches and drawing from participants’ first-hand experiences and knowledge, discussions will be based around, but not limited to:
Governance and leadership
- national institutional leadership and governance structures;
- intersectoral collaboration to integrate environment and health in various sectors and policies;
- streamlining environment and health policy implementation across governmental levels;
Resources
- workforce competencies and training curricula for addressing contemporary and emerging environment and health challenges;
- financial and economic aspects, including economic incentives, efficient use of national budgets, public–private partnerships, and mobilizing resources from trust funds and financial institutions;
Knowledge transfer, communication and advocacy
- translating environment and health research findings and evidence into national policies and action plans;
- strategic communication and outreach to effectively advocate for environment and health, including combating dis- and misinformation.