Bridging Health and Politics: Fellows Gather in Sweden for the Executive Program
In June 2025, 25 senior professionals from 21 countries convened at Kämpasten, near Sigtuna, Sweden, for the in-person masterclass of the Executive Programme in International Politics and Diplomacy for Health. Jointly organized by Karolinska Institutet and the Stockholm School of Economics, the programme is designed to equip emerging health leaders with the tools to navigate global and regional political settings of importance for health.
The week-long masterclass focused on six key thematic areas: political decision-making, trust-building, transformative leadership, public-private engagement, navigating failure and uncertainty, and effective communication.
Rather than traditional lectures, the programme focuses on a practitioner-to-practitioner approach which includes critical reflection, personal storytelling, and peer dialogue. Fellows engaged with leading voices from global health and diplomacy and shared insights from their own journeys, with reflections such as: “Seek windows of opportunity”, “Making a decision is the most important decision”, and “Ground your actions in your values, especially when challenges arise”.
The Executive Programme forms part of the Health Diplomacy Initiative’s broader mission to o equip emerging generations of health leaders with health diplomacy skills, build a network of organisations and individuals committed to the improvement of health, and generate insights about the evolving nature of health diplomacy.
What’s next for the fellows? They now join the growing Health Diplomacy Community—a network of former fellows and faculty committed to continued learning and exchange. A dedicated web platform will be established to support communication, collaboration, and ongoing engagement through events and seminars. In addition, the broader network of 30 international institutions connected through the Health Diplomacy Institutional Network offers access to an expanding global community of practice.