THCS Learning Week - What Transformation Means for Health and Social Care: Capturing Different Perspectives

Join the THCS Partnership from 28 September to 2 October 2026, for a focused Learning Week on transforming health and social care systems across Europe. The THCS Partnership will bring together policymakers, system leaders, researchers, practitioners and innovators to explore what transformation means in practice, how innovations move from projects into sustainable services, and how impact can be measured and scaled.

The concept of transformation is increasingly central to European research and innovation, yet its interpretation varies across policy areas, sectors, and initiatives. While many European Partnerships aim to deliver transformative change, they often define, approach, and measure transformation in different ways depending on their objectives, stakeholders, and expected impacts.

This interactive session will bring together representatives from European Partnerships beyond THCS to share how they understand and apply the concept of transformation within their own programmes. Through a series of short presentations and a moderated discussion, speakers will explore what transformation means in their respective contexts, the type of system changes they seek to achieve, and the approaches they use to support and assess meaningful change.

The session will encourage participants to compare perspectives across Partnerships, identify common principles and challenges, and reflect on how a shared understanding of transformation can strengthen collaboration and maximise the impact of European research and innovation investments.

What you will gain: 

• An understanding of how different European Partnerships define and interpret transformation.
• Insights into diverse approaches to achieving system-level change across sectors.
• A better appreciation of the similarities and differences in transformation journeys across European initiatives.
• Opportunities to exchange ideas and identify potential areas for cross-Partnership collaboration and mutual learning.

Photonics21 Executive Board member Professor Jürgen Popp will be speaker of the event.

You can download a pdf version of the full programme of the week.

You can register on the event website.