ASPHER Secretariat sends you our summer greetings from the second day of our Andrija Stampar Summer Educational & Tutoring School (ASSETS) in Brussels. We are pleased with the turn out and it should continue to be an exciting week for participants and faculty alike. If you weren’t able to attend or send a student this year, look forward to next year’s offering.

The current edition of ASPHER’s newsletter is a lengthy one, with much to report back from the memorable and well-attended Deans’ & Directors’ Retreat in Erice, Italy.

This summer marks a period of transition for ASPHER, with the changeover of the ASPHER Presidency from Kasia Czabanowska, University of Maastricht to John Middleton, UK Faculty of Public Health. Kasia will continue to take on the public health professionalization agenda in her capacity as ASPHER Past-President, while John wishes to look to Strategy, Governance and Partnership during his presidency. This is to include a review and if needed, revision of the ASPHER bylaws, adoption of a code of ethics, and greater emphasis on services to Member Programmes.

ASPHER will be moving from the ASPHER 2020 to the ASPHER 2025 agenda. The 2020 agenda is already undergoing review as we move toward its final year, allowing ASPHER to take stock of the past and set the Association’s future direction.

Other new developments include the election of two new Executive Board Members, Mary Codd, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science (SPHPSS) at University College Dublin (which will host the D&D Retreat in 2021) and Oliver Razum, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Germany. As well as acceptance of eight new Member Programmes and one new Associate Member, representing a diverse set of Schools from across the European Region and beyond.

We will have one piece of continuity this year. We are thrilled that our terrific Intern, Naomi Lamora Nathan will continue to work with us as an ASPHER Fellow. Naomi has been an exceptional Intern and presence at ASPHER and you can read more about her internship experiences here in the newsletter and in her blog post at aspher.org.

There are many other interesting activities and opportunities highlighted in the newsletter and we hope you take advantage to get involved and participate. It is through the involvement of our Member Schools that ASPHER remains a strong and vibrant organization, serving and advocating for the public’s health.

We always enjoy hearing from our Members, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you need assistance, have news or ideas to share, or wish to get active!

Enjoy your summer holidays!

Best wishes from the ASPHER Secretariat!

Robert, Lore, Cedric, Naomi