Venue: Institute of Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine, LMU Munich, Lessingstr. 2, 80336 Munich, Germany

Organization: Public Health Ethics Working Group (AEM/DGPH)

Financial support: The Academy of Ethics in Medicine (Professional Society for Ethics in Healthcare), Germany

Registration: Fabian.Linder@uni-a.de

The Public Health Ethics Working Group (AEM/DGPH) is pleased to announce a workshop taking place on 3–4 July 2026 at the Institute for Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine, LMU Munich. The workshop will bring together scholars to discuss current methodological challenges and future directions in case-based approaches within Public Health Ethics (PHE). Participation is limited to 30 attendees and requires prior registration. International experts will contribute to the program.

Background and Topic

For many years, medical ethics has intensively examined methods for addressing moral issues and developing ethically justified recommendations for practice. In particular, approaches to clinical ethics consultation have become a well-established field. By contrast, PHE has devoted comparatively less attention to the methodological question of how ethically relevant cases at the population level should be identified, analyzed, and evaluated. Research in both German-speaking and international contexts is still at an early stage in developing systematic approaches for case-based analysis in PHE. Yet these methodological questions are highly relevant in practice. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, underscored the importance of ethical guidance in concrete public health decision-making, such as the implementation of restrictive measures or the prioritization of scarce vaccine resources. This workshop addresses these challenges by focusing on case-based methods in PHE and by exploring fundamental methodological and normative questions that arise in the field. Participants will examine what constitutes a case in PHE — for example policy decisions, intervention planning, or complex governance situations — and discuss how ethically well-justified decisions can be reached in concrete public health contexts. Various methodological approaches are discussed to explore to what extent PHE differ from medical ethics with regard to case analyses. It will also allow to discuss participants’ insights and experiences from practice and research.

Three guiding questions will structure the workshop discussions:

1. What are substantive normative requirements and foundational principles of Public Health Ethics?

2. What specific challenges arise in ethical decision-making in public health contexts?

3. What methodological and procedural implications follow from these normative foundations and practical challenges for adequate decision-making approaches in Public Health Ethics?

Workshop Format

The workshop combines practical and theoretical perspectives in an iterative process, which includes presentations from invited scholars, moderated small-group case discussions and systematic reflections as well as plenary reflections with all participants. It aims to bring together practical experience, methodological expertise, and normative-theoretical perspectives from applied ethics and political philosophy to advance methods of case-based analysis and decision-making in PHE. Participants will jointly identify opportunities, limitations, and future research perspectives. Conceived as the starting point of a broader workshop series, this event seeks to contribute to the further development of methodological approaches in PHE and strengthen the quality of ethical analysis and decision-making in public health practice.

Program

Friday, 03.07.2026

15:00 Arrival of participants

15:30 Verina Wild & Jan-Christoph Heilinger, University of Augsburg / University Witten-Herdecke, Germany: Welcome and introduction to the workshop

16:00 Alison Thompson, University of Toronto, Canada: Methodological reflections on public health ethics consultations in policy and practice: Experiences from Canada Chair: Solveig Lena Hansen

17:00 Coffee break

17:30 Georg Marckmann, LMU Munich, Germany: What can we learn from clinical ethics consultations for ethical case discussions in public health? Chair: Franziska Max

18:30 Closing of the day

19:00 Joint dinner

Saturday, 04.07.2026

9:30 Maxwell Smith, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada: Bridging Ethics and Epidemiology to Advance Health Equity

Chair: Peter Schröder-Bäck

10:30 Coffee break

11:00 James Wilson, University College London, UK: Cases as a source of normative insight: what case studies have taught me about urban health equity Chair: Jan-Christoph Heilinger

12:00 Lunch break

12:30 Parallel discussions in working groups: Methodological aspects of using cases in public health ethics

13:45-14:00 Coffee Break

14:00-15:00 Plenary Session: Reports from the working groups Chair: Solveig Lena Hansen

15:00 Final discussion: Where do we go from here? Chairs: Georg Marckmann, Verina Wild

15:30 Closing of the workshop

Organizing Team: Public Health Ethics Working Group AEM/DGPH (coordinators: Solveig Lena Hansen, Jan-Christoph Heilinger, Georg Marckmann, Peter Schröder-Bäck, Verina Wild)