Moving forward in public health planning by learning (or not) from the past

Learning from the past is a complex issue and recent challenges have shown that past experiences are too often forgotten when responding to current challenges. This course will use a variety of historical and current examples from the 20th and 21st centuries (for example, pandemics, natural disasters, vaccines, war, childhood diseases, WASH, etc.) to discuss where past experience has been incorporated into future planning, where it has not, focusing on important lessons lost or used to benefit public health planning and actions.

There will be an interactive and interdisciplinary approach to this topic, and several guest speakers will present their perspectives and examples from research and practice around the world. Course participants are also encouraged to discuss challenges and successes of “learning from past experiences” when making public health planning decisions in their countries. The aim is to understand why and why not and to develop ways in which to be better incorporate the past into the present and future for a more effective and efficient responses to public health challenges.

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Outline why a historical perspective can improve the quality of debate on contemporary issues and policy formation;
• Assess historical sources and historical analysis to enrich evidence-based practices and policy briefings;
• Identify differences and similarities between historical and current public health challenges and derive actions for evidence-based policy and gain a new perspective on current challenges.

None.

• Input (guest) lectures;
• Interactive exercises;
• Peergroup interactions;
• Workshops.

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• Participants must attend at least 80% of the course;
• Active participation;
• Group presentation.

The facilitators plan to be in Lugano, and the course will be held entirely on-site. In case of a change of regional policies (e.g., Covid) or personal reasons, the course could change to online or hybrid format.