ECDC Summer School 2024: Introduction to mathematical modelling and strategic foresight for assessing and anticipating threats in public health

The overall aim of the course is to introduce the usage of mathematical modelling and strategic foresight.  Both provide valuable tools for assessing and anticipating threats in public health and help public health decision making under uncertainty.


Dates and duration: 22 – 24 May 2024 (3 days).


Audience: 

​This Summer School has been designed for public health practitioners interested in understanding, interpreting and utilising results and outputs of anticipatory approaches, both quantitative and qualitative, to guide public health decision making. 

The training is most useful for public health decision makers involved in planning of interventions and resource allocation, who interact with modelling outcomes and may benefit from understanding different approaches to what may come. Both specialists and generalists can benefit from this Summer School. 


Objectives: 

After completing the mathematical modelling sessions, the participants should be able to:  

  • Describe key components and concepts of infectious disease transmission and control
  • Analyse an ECDC modelling output to interpret its findings, with special focus on input, output and uncertainty around it
  • Discuss how modelling informs policy making

After completing the strategic foresight sessions, the participants should be able to:  

    • Describe the basic concepts of strategic foresight and common foresight methods
    • Explain the relevance of strategic foresight for public health decision-making
    • Identify potential applications of strategic foresight in their work 


Participation: This training is not open for self-enrolment. Participation is through invitation only.