Human Health Transitions Day - Breakout sessions

Breakout sessions

ROUND 1

A Healthy Living Environment in 2120

Tim van Hattum, Joyce Zwartkruis, Marion Kluivers-Poodt (WUR-Wageningen Environmental Research)

Room: Podium

Our living environment is changing - and must continue to change. In this breakout session, Tim van Hattum and Joyce Zwartkruis take you on a journey to the year 2120. What will the Netherlands look like then? And more importantly: how do we design a living environment where health is not a by product, but a central value?

Health is not only created in hospitals - it is shaped in the places where we live, work and move every day. That is an essential perspective when imagining what the Netherlands could look like in 2120. The future vision NL2120 presents an integrated and compelling approach to creating a climate resilient, biodiverse and livable Netherlands. By embracing nature based solutions and reimagining our surroundings, we can shape landscapes that actively contribute to human health. Think of greener cities that reduce heat stress, encourage physical activity and support mental well being.

In this session, we will explore:

•   what the Dutch landscape of the future might look like
•   how nature based solutions can drive a healthier living environment
•   why health should be a guiding principle in designing NL2120

Let yourself be inspired by a future that is not only imaginable, but achievable.

Participation Beyond the Checklist: What does meaningful participation of people in vulnerable situations in health research really require?
Lenneke Vaandrager, Annemarie Wagemakers, Jantien van Berkel, Carlijn Kamphuizen and Margret Franssen and the i4PH participation panel.

Room: Momentum 1

This interactive breakout session explores how researchers, professionals and people with lived experience can work together towards more inclusive health research. Drawing on experiences with participatory research and citizen panels, we will reflect on collaboration, experiential knowledge, lived experience, enabling environments and the inclusion of people in vulnerable situations. The session combines short reflections with interactive activities that invite participants to exchange experiences, reflect together and explore what meaningful participation in research can look like in practice.

How to transition to a safe and sustainable food system: the case of PFAS in eggs

Bjorn Berendsen (WUR-Wageningen Food Safety Research)

Room: Momentum 2

Dutch food is considered among the safest in the world. But what happens when man-made "forever chemicals" such as PFAS enter our food production system? In some industries and consumer products some PFAS are considered indispensable. But what if scientific research shows that humans are exposed to these chemicals and indicates that they may have adverse effects on human health?

What roles should science, national and local governments, and industry play in addressing this challenge? Can the transition to a toxic-free food system only succeed if all stakeholders collaborate and take responsibility? And what role can consumers play in driving this transition?

In this session, we will watch selected clips from the documentary “Niet Pluis” by Arieke van Liere as a starting point for a discussion on the transition towards a toxic-free food system. The panel will bring together perspectives from science, industry, and consumers. In addition, an ethicist will reflect on the societal and moral dimensions of this complex challenge.

ROUND 2

Deception in the food environment: from what we need to what we are served
Ellen Kampman (WUR-Agrotechnology & Food Sciences) & Ellen van Kleef (WUR-Social Sciences Group)

Room: Momentum 1

Dietary guidelines are built on decades of rigorous scientific research, yet nutrition scientists often struggle to gain the same visibility and influence as social media influencers. In a food environment increasingly shaped by commercial interests, persuasive marketing, and online misinformation, this raises important questions. Why do evidence-based messages so often lose out to less reliable voices? More importantly, what transformations are needed to create a food environment in which healthy and evidence-based choices become the easy, trusted, and attractive choices? In this interactive session, we will explore the forces shaping today’s food environment and together identify pathways for transformative change.

From outbreak response to system resilience: navigating a zoonotic disease outbreak

Mariken de Wit, Sara Gjaltema, Büsra Atamer Balkan, Wim van der Poel en Quirine ten Bosch, WUR IDE (WUR-Infectious Disease Epidemiology)

Room: Momentum 2

How do we decide when to act on an emerging disease threat when information is still uncertain? And how do environmental change, surveillance, and preparedness shape the options available to us?

In this interactive workshop, participants will navigate a simulated outbreak of a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease involving animals and humans, such as the current ongoing West Nile virus outbreak. Working in small groups, participants will face different scenarios and make decisions about surveillance and outbreak control while managing a limited public health budget. Their choices will influence how the outbreak develops and how resources are spent.

By comparing outcomes across scenarios, we will explore how modelling can support decisions under uncertainty and discuss how stronger surveillance, preparedness and cross-sector collaboration can help shift infectious disease management from reactive outbreak response towards prevention and resilient One Health systems.

Making Health Transitions Happen: Connecting Science, Policy and Practice

Marleen Bekker (WUR, SSG, Health and Society)

Room: Podium

How can scientific knowledge move beyond publications to inform policy, practice and societal change? In this interactive session, participants will explore how researchers, policymakers and practitioners can work together to accelerate human health transitions and turn evidence into meaningful action and impact.