In Portorož, Young People Sit at the Same Table with WHO and the European Commissioner for Health
The Portorož Youth Health Forum 2026 (PYHF 2026) took place in Portorož from 20 to 24 September.
PORTOROŽ, 24 SEPTEMBER 2026
Organized by the International Youth Health Organization (YHO), the international forum brought young people, youth workers, and representatives of youth organizations from across Europe to Slovenia, and connected them with public health experts, researchers, and decision-makers.
The third edition of the Forum explored how the factors affecting young people’s health are changing and how young people can play a more active role in shaping solutions and health policies that directly affect them. Alongside established public health topics such as alcohol, nicotine and nutrition, the programme addressed mental health, digital environments, algorithms, artificial intelligence, pop culture and the commercial determinants of health.
WHO REPRESENTATIVES IN DIRECT DIALOGUE WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
The participation of representatives of the World Health Organization’s Core Group on Social Participation brought a valuable perspective to this year’s forum. The group connects experts and staff from different parts of WHO who work on involving individuals, communities and civil society in health policies and health systems.
Their visit to Portorož went beyond presenting WHO’s work. Through direct conversations, shared activities and exchanges with youth organisations, participants were able to share their experiences and perspectives and explore how meaningful participation by young people and civil society can become part of health decision-making in practice.
The forum also brought together a range of Slovenian and international experts, including Dr Vesna Kerstin Petrič, Dr Peter Rice, Stig Erik Sørheim, Dr Laura Fenton, Myriam Savy and Dr Octavian Mihai Machidon. Among the guests was Dr Andrej Martin Vujkovac, a physician and global health expert who now works primarily with WHO. He has been connected with YHO since its beginnings and has made an important contribution to the organisation’s development. His presence symbolically linked YHO’s early days with its role today as an international platform connecting young people, experts and health institutions.
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR HEALTH HEARS YOUNG PEOPLE’S PROPOSALS
One of the forum’s central events was a Youth Policy Dialogue with Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare. Designed as a direct exchange, it gave young people the opportunity to share their experiences, questions and concrete proposals for improving youth health in Europe.
At the end of the dialogue, the Commissioner said that one message he would take away from Portorož and the young people’s proposals was the need for more education on healthy eating in school curricula. He highlighted the value of practical knowledge about food, familiarity with healthy ingredients, and the skills and culture of preparing healthy meals at home. Being able to understand what they eat, recognize quality ingredients, and prepare a healthy meal can help young people build healthy habits early in life.
“For YHO, it is essential that we do more than invite young people to take part in our activities. We must also open doors to the spaces where decisions about their health are made. Direct dialogue with the European Commissioner for Health is an example of what we want to make possible: young people presenting their experiences, needs and proposals directly to decision-makers and being recognised as equal partners in shaping health policies. Our goal is to co-create systems in which the healthy choice is also the easy choice — and young people must help shape those systems,” said Sanja Šišović, YHO President.
The dialogue offered a concrete example of the approach behind PYHF: bringing young people’s proposals beyond discussions within youth organisations and directly to those involved in shaping European health policy.
YOUNG PEOPLE AS PARTNERS IN DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS
A defining feature of this year’s forum was its two-way approach to learning and sharing knowledge. Young people helped experts understand the realities, trends and environments in which they are growing up, while experts connected those experiences with research, data and public health approaches.
Through workshops, dialogues, practical training and informal exchanges, participants strengthened their knowledge of prevention, health promotion, advocacy and communication. They also raised questions about emerging health challenges facing their generation.
“Young people know best the environment in which they are growing up and the new factors affecting their health. That is why we need spaces where they can speak directly with the people who make decisions, instead of only speaking about them. This is what we want the Portorož Youth Health Forum to do: bring young people’s experiences, expert knowledge and decision-makers to the same table, and make sure young people’s voices are heard,” said Nina Bavčar Čargo, YHO Secretary General.
This approach reflects the belief that young people are more than a target group for health policies or recipients of health messages. Their experiences, knowledge and ideas can help shape solutions.
FROM PORTOROŽ TO FUTURE HEALTH POLICIES
The Portorož Youth Health Forum is designed to be more than a one-off event. YHO aims to develop Portorož into an international meeting place for youth health, bringing together youth organisations, health professionals, researchers and national, European and international institutions.
This year’s forum continued the work of previous editions and advanced YHO’s efforts to make young people’s participation in discussions and decisions about their health more meaningful.
By bringing together representatives of the World Health Organization and the European Commission, international experts and, above all, young people from across Europe, this year’s forum took another step towards that goal: creating a space where young people sit at the same table as those who research, shape and make health policy.
The Portorož Youth Health Forum 2026 is organised as part of the International Youth Health Organization’s (YHO) annual programme, supported by the Council of Europe’s European Youth Foundation (Structural Grant – Reference 7222.SG2.2026–2027).
PYHF 2026 is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme, with the support of the Slovenian National Agency MOVIT.
Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
