Gothenburg, Sweden – May 13–15, 2025
Over 600 public health professionals, researchers, and policymakers from across the Nordic region gathered in Gothenburg, Sweden, this week for the Nordic Public Health Conference (NPHC) 2025. As one of the most anticipated public health events in the region, the triennial conference continues to serve as a critical platform for exchanging knowledge, building partnerships, and shaping the future of public health policy and practice.
Among the key contributors to this year’s conference was the Joint Action Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (JA PreventNCD), which had a strong presence across all three days of the event. Through presentations and a workshop, JA PreventNCD highlighted its ongoing efforts to prevent NCDs by addressing strategic communication, upstream health determinants and advancing a wellbeing economy.
Day 1: Wellbeing Economy as a Tool for Sustainable Health
The opening day featured an engaging and forward-thinking presentation by Dr. Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, Director of Public Health at Iceland’s Directorate of Health and JA PreventNCD’s lead on wellbeing economy. In her session, Dr. Gudmundsdottir made the case for viewing the wellbeing economy not just as an economic model but as a foundational tool to improve population health.
In her talk, Dr. Guðmundsdóttir explored how the concept of a wellbeing economy could serve as a powerful tool to improve public health, with a particular emphasis on fostering sustainable wellbeing for both people and the planet. She highlighted the pressing challenges of our time—including climate change, rising burnout, declining happiness, and increasing social isolation. She argued that reversing these trends requires a fundamental shift in approach. One promising path forward, she suggested, is to adopt sustainable wellbeing as the ultimate objective—placing people and planetary health at the heart of economic and policy decisions.
Dr. Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, Director of Public Health at Iceland’s Directorate of Health and JA PreventNCD’s lead on wellbeing economy
Day 2: Building Strategic Communication for Public Health Impact
On the second day, the JA PreventNCD Communication Team attracted over 110 participants for an interactive workshop titled “Building Effective Public Health Communication Strategies.” The session demonstrated why communication must be a central pillar of public health practice, especially when addressing complex issues such as NCD prevention.
Participants explored JA PreventNCD’s strategic communication framework and worked hands-on to create their own outreach strategies designed for specific target audiences and stakeholders. The materials were tailored to the Nordic context, making them directly applicable to both public health and policy communication efforts. A key message from the session was that strategic communication is not just about messaging—it’s about understanding the systems, the people, and the moments that matter.
Live Johannessen Bøe, Task Leader in JA PreventNCD and Senior Advisor the the Norwegian Directorate of Health
Day 3: Leadership in NCD Prevention and Nordic Legacy of Health Determinants
The final day of NPHC2025 featured an expert-led session titled Nordic Models of Health Determinants: What Have They Ever Done for Public Health? By by Dame Margaret Whitehead, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool. A pioneer in health equity, she co-developed the globally renowned Rainbow Model of health determinants—a conceptual tool that has inspired generations of public health professionals and underpins much of the work at JA PreventNCD.
She emphasized that public health is fundamentally rooted in principles of equity, and it is essential to uphold those principles in both policy and practice. “We need the policy focus on social determinants of health and inequalities in health more than ever. To maintain the social determinants of health focus against the tendency to Individual lifestyle drift”, said Whitehead.
Following Whitehead’s presentation, Knut Inge Klepp, JA PreventNCD’s Scientific Coordinator and Professor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, built on this foundation. Klepp presented the latest data on the burden of NCDs in Europe, with a focus on Nordic trends. Klepp emphasized the urgent need for upstream interventions and outlined the scope of JA PreventNCD—the largest EU-funded joint action on public health to date. The project draws on the conceptual groundwork laid by Whitehead and others, focusing on structural determinants and integrating prevention into broader policy frameworks.
Klepp also highlighted the challenges and opportunities in the primary prevention of NCDs, emphasizing that in a time of shifting political priorities, maintaining a clear focus on prevention is more important than ever.
Dame Margaret Whitehead and Knut Inge Klepp
Looking Ahead: Collaboration for a Healthier Future
The Nordic Public Health Conference 2025 reaffirmed the Nordic region’s commitment to tackling complex public health challenges through evidence-based policy, collaboration, and inclusive dialogue. JA PreventNCD’s active role in the conference showcased how EU-level joint actions can align with and strengthen existing Nordic public health approaches.
In a rapidly changing world, public health across the Nordic region faces both significant challenges and new opportunities. JA PreventNCD’s presence at the conference reflected the importance of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and joint action in addressing these complex issues. By working together and learning from one another, we move closer to a future where the prevention of non-communicable diseases is a shared priority.
Thank you to the Nordic Public Health Conference for hosting an inspiring and collaborative event.