Coca-Cola sought to shift blame for obesity by funding public health conferences, study reports

Abstract EUPHA members prepared a discussion paper on EUPHA’s “health and environment awareness” in 2015, presented it to the EUPHA section council, and conducted a workshop at the European Public Health (EPH) conference in Vienna 2016. Following this initiative, the Association determined that greening the conferences is one of the objectives for the EPH Conference strategy for 2017-2020. A “Green club” was set up by the Executive director in 2017. For reducing the environmental impact of the conference, the following were some of the early objectives and actions (2016): Catering - Coffee and tea served in recycled cups; most lunch ingredients from regional and organic origin. Reduced printing - Switching to E-Posters, digital marketing and email communication. Paperless communication - Abstract submission, registration and invoicing became fully web-based; the Conference Programme and abstracts could henceforth be accessed online. The Conference Bag was made of recycled materials. With the EPH conferences in Stockholm 2017 and Ljubljana 2018, advised by the Green Club, the following initiatives were taken: Lunches and Conference Dinner no longer served beef; vegan and vegetarian menus were introduced. Reduced printing - By 2018, the option to have a hard copy of the list of delegates was no longer offered. The conference Foundation encouraged its suppliers to limit the environmental impact of their products and services. In Stockholm, all restaurants at the venue were licensed to use the Nordic Ecolabel. All delegates and participants were encouraged to travel CO2 neutral. For Ljubljana in 2018, the Green club consulted the WHO Europe publication “Planning Healthy and Sustainable Meetings” and considered initiatives that participants could do for compensating their environmental impact. For the 2019 conference, discussions are intended to involve a wider conference participation.

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Hawai'i Public Health Association's Global Public Health Conferences 2002 and 2003

Californian Journal of Health Promotion ◽

10.32398/cjhp.v1isi.564 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 1 (SI) ◽

pp. 131-135

Author(s):

Pratisha Budhiraja

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Alternative Healing ◽

For Profit ◽

The Pacific ◽

National Organizations ◽

Health Conferences ◽

Part Time ◽

Traditional Practitioners

The 2003 Global Public Health Conference: Collaborating for Quality of Life and Health in the Pacific was sponsored by The Hawai‘i Public Health Association in partnership with the University of Hawai‘i’s Globalization Research Center and a number of other local and national organizations. This second consecutive Pacific-based conference posed new funding and staffing challenges. The novelty of the 2002 conference drew substantial sponsorship and a large volunteer base. In 2003, however, many sponsors were less willing to fund a second year, and experience with the 2002 volunteer process precipitated restructuring the 2003 planning committee to include only those who could offer time and skills. A part time administrative assistant was also hired. The 2003 abstracts included few submissions in traditional medicine and alternative healing, areas lacking from the previous conference as well. The inappropriate “call for abstracts” process for traditional practitioners was remedied by inviting speakers in these areas. The resulting 2003 conference successfully increased HPHA membership, and provided a nurturing venue for the 100+ presenters to share their public health work. In addition to Hawai‘i and the mainland USA, the 350+ conference attendees represented many nations from Fiji to Aotearoa, and even South Africa. Regardless, staffing and funding issues prompted the decision to schedule large conferences every other year, and new ideas for the 2004 annual meeting are being explored. Additionally, other Pacific nations have expressed interest in hosting the event. Lessons learned from two years of international conference planning will better prepare HPHA and other not-for-profit, volunteer organizations for future quality events in public health.

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12.I. Skills building seminar: Making the elevator pitch more effective: how to convince a policymaker in less than 2 minutes

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.618 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

◽

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Knowledge Translation ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Regional Office ◽

The Public ◽

Policy Window ◽

European Public ◽

Health Conferences ◽

Key Aspects ◽

Health Narrative

Abstract Since a number of years, the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), the European Public Health Conferences and other associations, have been working hard to translate the evidence in a such a format that policymakers take notice. For example, the WHO Regional Office for Europe works on 'telling the public health narrative' and provides factsheets and infographics, in order to effectively communicate public health messages to policymakers. At the European Public Health Conference so-called pitch presentations were introduced (at Glasgow 2014), where researchers are asked to present their work in 5 minutes with maximum 5 slides (no animations), as a way to learn to present key messages from research in just a few minutes. EUPHA has organised several skills building workshops on translation of evidence in the past years, including last year's session 'making the elevator pitch work'. Lessons learned during this workshop in Marseille are: Have a clear ask (keep it simple)Appeal to the policymaker's own interests and prioritiesSpell out how action will be beneficial for the policymakerBe aware of upcoming electionsBuilt a relationship with the assistants of politicians Following the great interest in last year's workshop, this workshop will complement the outcomes of the 'lessons learned' with additional tips for convincing a policymaker. The list of lessons learned will be expended by reflecting on models of knowledge translation. Models of knowledge translation and evidence informed policymaking are abundant. Some key aspects that can be added to the list are: considering the 'policy window', making the comparison with the policy plans, identifying the relevant stakeholders and groups affected by the problem. In this skills-building workshop, we will select a number of abstracts that have been accepted by the International Scientific Committee as posters and we will invite the presenting authors to this dare: Present your work and key messages in less than 2 minutes. In order to see whether the policymaker is convinced, we are organising a small panel of policymakers and ask them to give their feedback. Are they interested? Do they remember the key message? And if all goes well, do you get an invitation to come back and present more of your work? Key messages Being able to present your key messages anywhere, anytime is needed. Telling the public health narrative and telling a story are important skills for public health professionals to have.

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