European Hub for Planetary Health – Policy Engagement Working Group vision mission and priorities

In September 2022, the European Hub for Planetary Health (EHPH) was established with the aim of coordinating a movement to promote leadership across multidisciplinary communities in Europe towards a synergistic approach to planetary health. www.planetaryhealth.eu The vision of the Policy Engagement Working Group (PEWG) of the EHPH is that Planetary Health should be the central mindset of everyday life for all people, for the purpose of safeguarding a liveable planet for future generations. It is necessary to apply scientific insights to promote Planetary Health-based policies whilst being mindful of the social and economic pressures on populations to ensure that such policies are actionable. The mission of the Policy Engagement Working Group is to build bridges between researchers and policy makers in Europe (on local, regional, national, and EU levels), to promote Planetary Health as a central line of thought for policy making. The PEWG aims to be an interface between views and insights of the members of the Planetary Health European Hub and governments, academia, and other relevant actors in European policy, to move the evidence-base for Planetary Health higher on the political agenda so it is integrated into policies, strategies, and policy agendas. We want to support enhanced policy coherence and vertical coordination in support of Planetary Health and sustainability at international, national, regional, and local levels. The priorities of the Policy Engagement Working Group include knowledge translation; awareness raising by dissemination of information and signposting to reliable sources that can be for the benefit of policy makers and the public on the concept of Planetary Health; policy dissemination and analysis; policy advice and advocacy to European health services and governments; capacity building and development of operational methodologies for national, regional and local Planetary Health Operations.