Advancing Behavioural Science in Public Health through EUPHA
"A section on behavioural science for public health in the European Public Health Association will help public health practitioners to embed behavioural evidence in their work to tackle public health challenges.”
A new proposal to establish a Behavioural Science for Public Health section within the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) marks another milestone in integrating behavioural perspectives and insights implementation into public health research, policy, and practice across Europe.
Following a promising set of meetings with EUPHA Executive Director Charlotte Marchandise, the current EUPHA President Tit Albreht, and EUPHA Section Council members who expressed enthusiasm for the proposal earlier this year, a selection of the steering committee met to discuss the program of activities of the proposed BSPH section at this year’s Non-Pharmacological Interventions Society (NPIS) conference in Paris on 15-16 October 2025. While various national and supranational institutions already have strong behavioural science capacity in public health, and the WHO has established a Resolution and Regional Action Framework where countries across the European region have committed to embedding behavioural and cultural insights for better health, many countries are still working hard to meet their objectives. This section intends to support their efforts.
The initiative, led by Dr Jet Sanders, in her capacity with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, with the strong and committed support from the Immediate Past President of EUPHA, Professor Iveta Nagyova (PJ Safarik University, Kosice), the President of the NPIS, Professor Gregory Ninot (University of Montpellier), and Professor Kim Lavoie and Professor Simon Bacon co-leads of the International Behavioural Trials Network (University of Quebec at Montreal and University of Concordia respectively). Additionally, the section will include leadership from behavioural science experts from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe in its steering committee.
“Public health challenges, from vaccine uptake to sustainable lifestyles, are all behavioural” said Dr Sanders. “This section will help public health practitioners to embed behavioural evidence in their work to tackle public health challenges.” We are facing many public health threats in our current time, from chronic disease to antimicrobial resistance and from air pollution to resourcing issues with an increasing ageing population. As put by Professor Lavoie: "Like public health, behavioural scientists are concerned with protection, prevention, and promotion of good health policies and behaviours, and can bring complementary knowledge and tools that could help optimise the effectiveness and impact of public health interventions." Effective responses depend not only on medical or technological innovation but also on an understanding of people’s actions: how they interpret information; make decisions; and adopt healthier behaviours. Behavioural science helps unpack these influences, offering human-centred evidence-informed strategies to design population-level interventions and policies that work with, rather than against, human behaviour.
Applying these insights can make public health programmes more effective — by increasing adherence to treatment, promoting physical activity, improving nutrition, or reducing pollution through sustainable habits and save resources. Yet despite increasingly demonstrated value, behavioural science remains underrepresented in European public health systems.
The proposed EUPHA section will serve as a collaborative platform to bridge that gap. It will organise workshops, webinars, and conference sessions, publish best-practice guidance, and foster partnerships across disciplines and sectors: starting with an annual pre-conference at the 18th EPH conference 2025 in Helsinki this November.
By embedding behavioural science as a cross-cutting theme, the new section aims to strengthen EUPHA’s mission to build capacity, connect professionals, and drive innovative solutions for a healthier Europe.