From evidence to action: using the Equal-Life Toolbox through training

Why training matters for stakeholders

Improving children’s mental health and cognitive development requires more than access to scientific results. It requires shared understanding, practical tools, and the capacity to apply them in real-world contexts.

Within the Equal-Life project, training activities were designed as a key mechanism to bridge research and practice, supporting stakeholders in translating exposome knowledge into policy design, planning decisions, and interventions. Rather than focusing on theory alone, the training programme aimed to empower professionals to work with complexity, uncertainty, and cross-sectoral perspectives.

For whom is this tool relevant?

The training-informed toolbox is particularly relevant for stakeholders involved in:

• urban and spatial planning;

• public and mental health policy;

• education and child-focused services;

• environmental health and sustainability;

• local and regional governance.

It is designed for professionals who need to work across disciplines and who seek evidence-informed, yet accessible instruments to address complex challenges related to children’s wellbeing.

A stakeholder-oriented training approach

The Equal-Life training programme was developed in close dialogue with stakeholders from local, regional, national, and European contexts. Across workshops, pilots, and online sessions, recurring needs emerged clearly:

• clarity on exposome concepts and terminology;

• relevance to local challenges and vulnerable groups;

• accessible tools that support prioritisation and decision-making;

• practical guidance rather than technical documentation.

In response, training formats were designed to be modular, interactive, and context-sensitive, allowing participants to progressively move from understanding concepts to applying the Equal-Life Toolbox in their own professional settings.

From concepts to practice: the training structure

All Equal-Life trainings follow a common learning logic, articulated around three complementary sessions:

1. Understanding the exposome and the Equal-Life frameworkParticipants are introduced to the exposome concept, its relevance for children’s mental health, and the scientific foundations of the Equal-Life project. The focus is on building a shared vocabulary and understanding how environmental, social, and internal exposures interact across childhood.

2. Recognising exposome dimensions in real-world contextsThrough visual material, case discussions, and local examples, stakeholders explore how exposome-related factors manifest in everyday environments. This phase supports reflection, peer learning, and the ability to reframe familiar problems through an exposome lens.

3. Applying the Equal-Life ToolboxThe final session is hands-on. Participants navigate the toolbox, explore selected tools (such as logic models or equity-oriented instruments), and apply them to policy or intervention cases relevant to their own work. The emphasis is on usability, transferability, and integration into existing workflows.

Multiple formats, one shared goal

To reach diverse audiences and contexts, the training programme combined:

• pilot trainings to co-design and refine content with core stakeholders;

• online sessions to ensure broad accessibility across countries and sectors;

• in-person workshops linked to cities, networks, and international events.

Across Europe and beyond, these formats enabled engagement with policymakers, urban planners, public health professionals, educators, researchers, and civil society actors, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and shared learning D9.6_training.

How this connects to the Equal-Life Toolbox

Training activities and the Equal-Life Toolbox are tightly connected. Trainings do not treat tools as isolated components, but as part of a structured way of thinking about children’s environments.

Through guided use, stakeholders learn how the toolbox can:

• support integrated analysis of environmental and social factors;

• make equity and child-centred perspectives explicit;

• inform policy design, evaluation, and prioritisation;

• facilitate communication across sectors and departments.

In this sense, training acts as an enabler of adoption, helping stakeholders move from exploration to meaningful use of the toolbox in practice.

Moving forward

The Equal-Life training experience demonstrates that capacity-building is essential for sustainable uptake of research-based tools. By combining scientific knowledge, practical exercises, and stakeholder dialogue, the training programme strengthens the role of the Equal-Life Toolbox as a living resource for policy and practice.

Stakeholders are invited to explore the toolbox, adapt its tools to their local context, and use it as a starting point for more integrated and child-centred decision-making.

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