This Canadian Network for Health in All Policies (CNHiAP) workshop will take place over two 90-minute sessions: February 20 and 27, 2026
Session 1: Friday, February 20th, 2026, 12:30 to 14:00 EST
Session 2: Friday, February 27th, 2026, 12:30 to 14:00 EST
Language: English
*Workshop materials will be available in English and French
Registration:
Background:
Framing skills are essential for effectively engaging partners, communicating policy objectives, and securing buy-in for the implementation of Health in All Policies approaches. In response, the CNHiAP Working Group on Competencies and Tools for Public Policy has been exploring and developing capacity-building opportunities to enhance framing skills, with a particular focus on using strategic framing to strengthen intersectoral collaboration.
Description:
This workshop will explain how framing works as an important element of persuasive communication, building on theories developed in the field of communication studies. We will consider examples of framing from scientific, political, public health and public policy perspectives, work on techniques for re-framing, and consider the relationship between framing and persuasion.
The workshop will take place over two sessions:
The first session will introduce concepts, principles, and examples. It will explain what framing is and how framing is a central communication challenge. It will explore the connection between framing and persuasive communication, analyze examples of framing at work, articulate principles for effective framing, and identify framing challenges in public health and public policy settings. At the end of the first session, participants will be invited to reflect on their own framing challenges and share them with the workshop lead, to inform the development of practical, hands-on exercises for the following session.
The second session will include large and small group exercises for practicing framing. This session will consider key examples of framing at work, design and work through a re-framing exercise, and work with participants’ framing challenges to suggest new, persuasive frames. The goal is to make participants more effective and persuasive communicators through expanding theoretical knowledge of framing and persuasion, critically analyzing specific framing challenges, and constructing persuasive frames for use in current circumstances.
Specific objectives:
- Understand what framing is and why it plays such a key role in the process of persuasion.
- Recognize the use of framing in public health and policy contexts.
- Learn how to reframe issues and/or control framing to influence beliefs and behaviours.
- Receive concrete feedback and recommendations on existing framing challenges that participants are facing when building HiAP.
Audience:
This workshop is open only to CNHiAP members or their delegates. Participants will be required to complete a registration form.
Workshop lead:
Dr. Robert Danisch
Dr. Robert Danisch is a Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. He has a PhD in Communication from the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught courses on persuasion for many years and has run workshops on persuasion, facilitation, strategic communication, and feedback for corporate, government, and non-governmental organizations.
Facilitator:
Natalia Carrillo Botero
Scientific Advisor
National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy