The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London (UCL) as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Applying Behavioural and Implementation Sciences to Improve Health for the period 2026–2030.
The Centre for Behaviour Change is a globally recognized interdisciplinary centre that advances the science and application of behaviour change to address major health, social and environmental challenges. Through research, training and knowledge exchange, the Centre works to translate evidence into effective policy and practice.
The new designation will strengthen WHO's capacity to apply behavioural and implementation science across its technical and normative work. Through the collaboration, WHO and UCL will co-develop practical tools, guidance and capacity-building activities to support the systematic use of behavioural sciences in public health policy and programme delivery.
Human behaviour plays a critical role in many of today's most pressing health challenges, from antimicrobial resistance to climate adaptation and maternal health. While evidence-based interventions continue to advance, their impact depends on successful implementation in real-world settings. Behavioural sciences help us understand the factors that influence behaviour, while implementation science provides methods for putting evidence into practice. Together, they offer powerful approaches for improving health outcomes at scale.
Professor Susan Michie, Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at UCL, said: "This designation provides an important opportunity to work with WHO to strengthen the application of behavioural sciences across global health. By translating evidence into practical tools and approaches, we can help support more effective policies, programmes and health outcomes."
Professor Fabiana Lorencatto, Co-Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change, added: "We are excited to collaborate with WHO to ensure that behavioural sciences evidence is applied in ways that are practical, scalable and impactful across diverse public health contexts."
Over the coming years, the Collaborating Centre will support WHO through technical expertise, co-development of practical tools, and delivery of trainings and knowledge-sharing activities designed to strengthen behavioural sciences capability across public health systems.
Elena Altieri, Global Technical Lead for Behavioural Insights at WHO, said: "This collaboration expands WHO's capacity to apply behavioural sciences more consistently across our work and to support partners in addressing complex health challenges where understanding human behaviours is central to success."
The collaboration will contribute to the implementation of WHO's Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14), supporting action on priority health challenges and helping accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information contact behavioural.insights@who.int