Final Conference

MOBILISING NEW FINANCIAL APPROACHES FOR EQUITABLE HEALTH AND WELLBEING

28 May 2026 (08.30h-17.15h)

Venue: Brussels, European Committee of the Regions

How can we finance prevention, equity, and wellbeing in a sustainable way?

We are pleased to invite you to the final event of the Invest4Health Horizon Europe project:

“Mobilising New Financial Approaches for Equitable Health and Wellbeing”

📅 28 May 2026 | 09:00–17:15
📍 Brussels, European Committee of the Regions

European health systems are under growing pressure, so investing in prevention is no longer optional, but it’s essential.

The Invest4Health project, funded by Horizon Europe, addresses this challenge through Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI), an approach that reframes prevention as a long-term social and economic investment. By combining financial and non-financial resources, SCI strengthens communities, tackles the social determinants of health, and helps reduce inequalities.

Over the past three years, the project has:

  • Designed and tested innovative financing models across European regions
  • Explored outcome-based and blended funding approaches
  • Strengthened cross-sector collaboration
  • Generated evidence to support real-world implementation and scaling

This final event marks a key transition from project results to practical uptake.

Who should attend?

Policymakers, investors, researchers, public health professionals, and practitioners working across health, social care, and related sectors. The event is also highly relevant for regional authorities, innovation hubs, and organisations focused on health promotion and disease prevention.

Programme highlights:

  • Keynote speeches and expert panels
  • Insights from regional testbeds
  • Discussions on scaling innovative investment approaches
  • Networking reception

We are honoured to welcome keynote speakers from the World Health Organization, EuroHealthNet, and Invest-NL, alongside a diverse group of leading European experts.

Join us in Brussels and be part of shaping the future of health financing in Europe, moving from short-term costs to long-term investment in health.

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PROGRAMME

08:30 – 09:00 | REGISTRATION, WELCOME COFFEE (ROOM JDE51)

SESSION 1 – PLENARY (ROOM JDE51)

WELCOME AND KEYNOTE SPEECHES – SETTING THE CONTEXT

09:00 – 09:20  |  WELCOME SPEECHES  |  From a Horizon Europe project to action: Mobilising Invest4Health – What our consortium built, why it matters, and what comes next

09:20 – 09:40  |  KEYNOTE SPEECH  |  Why act now? Turning the prevention investment gap into an opportunity for equity and sustainability

09:40 – 10:00  |  KEYNOTE SPEECH  |  Leveraging private capital for accelerating prevention

10:00 – 10:20  |  KEYNOTE SPEECH  |  Unlocking public and private funding for investment in health promotion and well-being

10:20 – 10:30  |  Q&A  |  Questions and discussion

 

10:30 – 11:00  |  COFFEE BREAK  |  NETWORKING

 

SESSION 2 – PLENARY (ROOM JDE51)

FROM PILOTS TO UPTAKE 

11:00 – 11:15  |  PRESENTATION  |  Smart capacitating investment: models, motivations, success factors

11:15 – 11:30  |  PRESENTATION  |  What would draw banks into financing health impact? Investability and the management of risks

11:30 – 12:30  |  PLENARY PANEL DISCUSSION  |  From pilots to uptake: financing and governance models for prevention, health promotion and equity

 

12:30 – 13:15  |  LUNCH  |  NETWORKING 

 

SESSION 3 – AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSIONS (A)

A1) TESTBED EXPERIENCES – SMART CAPACITATING INVESTMENT IN PRACTICE (ROOM JDE51)

13:15 – 13:30  |  INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION  |  Framing the evidence from the regional testbeds

13:30 – 14:30  |  ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION  |  Collective learning from testbeds through short stories and examples

A2) UNDER CONSTRUCTION  – PAVING THE PATH FOR UPSTREAM HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE (ROOM JDE53)

13:15 – 14:30  |  INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP  | Scaling SCI: From tools to implementation

 

14:30 – 15:00  |  COFFEE BREAK  |  NETWORKING

 

SESSION 4 – AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSIONS (B) 

COMMITMENT AND NEXT STEPS

 

B1) POLICY CONSIDERATIONS OF INTRODUCING INNOVATIVE INVESTMENTS (ROOM JDE51)

15:00 – 16:00  |  PANEL DISCUSSION   |  Mainstreaming health promotion investment: what should policy look like?

B2) DELIVERING SCI THROUGH SOCIAL FRANCHISING: A TRANSFERABLE CONCEPT (ROOM JDE53)

15:00 – 16:00  |  INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP  |  Delivering Smart Capacitating Investment through Social Franchising: Scaling health promotion across Europe

 

SESSION 5 – FINAL PLENARY (ROOM JDE51)

16:00 – 16:15  |  CLOSING REMARKS

RECEPTION

16:15 – 17:15  |  NETWORKING

17:15  |  CLOSURE

 

 

SPEAKERS, PANEL MEMBERS

Click here for the detailed programme

 

Guest speakers and external contributors

Alain Coheur – Member, European Economic and Social Committee; Director of European and International Affairs, Solidaris

Cornel Riscanu – Project Officer, European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA)

Graham Randles – Consultant – Well-being Economy, WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development (keynote speaker)

Pascal Lardier – Co-organiser, éditoHealth and Radical Health Festival

Stanleyson Hato – Team Lead, Life Sciences & Health Business Development, Invest-NL (keynote speaker)

Ushma Issar – Co-Founder and CEO, Rypple

 

Invest4Health consortium speakers and contributors

Alison Massen – Programme Manager, EuroHealthNet

Anant Jani – Senior Research Fellow, University of Heidelberg

Apostolos Tsiachristas – Associate Professor in Health Economics, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences & Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Balázs Babarczy – Senior Research Associate, Syreon Research Institute

Balázs Nagy – Senior Research Associate, Syreon Research Institute

Bengt Stavenow – Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Skåne

Caroline Costongs – Director, EuroHealthNet (keynote speaker)

David Evers – Project Manager, FIR an der RWTH Aachen; North Rhine-Westphalia testbed representative

Elena Stebbings – Trainee Clinical Scientist, Hywel Dda University Health Board; West Wales testbed representative

Jolanda Van Vliet – Invest4Health Project Manager; Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Skåne; Region Skåne testbed representative

Joanna Lane – Managing Director, Stichting Health ClusterNet (SHCN); Chairperson, FHEF; Professor, USN; Advisory Board Co-Chair, THCS Partnership

José María Romero Fidalgo – Director, Health Development and Innovation Area – ACIS; Galicia testbed representative

Lars Münter – Invest4Health Citizen Patient Advisory Group representative, Nordic Wellbeing Academy

Lina Papartyte – Project Coordinator, EuroHealthNet

Maureen Rutten-van Mölken – Professor of Economic Evaluation of Innovations for Health, Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management

Petra Vogt – Medical & Strategic Advisor, I4H Project Coordinator, Region Skåne

Rhiannon Tudor Edwards – Professor of Health Economics; Co-Director, Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation, Bangor University

Jacob Davies, Research Officer, Health Economics at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME), Bangor University

Shabs Rajasekharan – Senior Associate, IESE Centre for Research in Healthcare Innovation Management

Shirin Bartholdsson – Innovation and Process Leader, RISE, Social & Health Impact Centre

Stephen Wright – Independent Economic Consultant; Research Associate, Stichting Health ClusterNet

Theologos Xenakis – EU Project Manager, Norway Health Tech

Vidya Oruganti – Associate Professor in Digital Business, SNF Centre for Applied Research, NHH Norwegian School of Economics

The content of the meeting is the sole responsibility of the organisers and does not reflect the views of the Committee of the Regions.