Protecting and improving environmental health by influencing policy: advocacy techniques & approaches (1h 50m Learning Lab Tabletop/Group Exercise)

Advocacy for health protection and improvement is recognised as a key aspect of public health practice. Yet many environmental health practitioners might think of policy-making as something which is ‘done to them’ rather than a process to be actively influenced. This Learning Lab will introduce delegates to skills and techniques for analysing the key policy drivers and actors in the policy-making process and develop interventions to effectively influence the policy agenda.

 

Delegates will work in groups utilising a case study format to establish the chief drivers for policy action, analyse the roles and viewpoints of key actors in the process and identify points at which influence can most effectively be achieved. This activity will be supported by use of a range of policy analysis tools from international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization.

This analysis will then be applied to develop advocacy interventions to effectively influence the development of policies for the protection and improvement of environmental health.