Fit-for-purpose: developing curriculum for meeting the needs of public health leaders in the 21st century

Although leadership is a well-known concept within organisational science, public health leadership is still not well-defined. Further, leadership is not commonly included in most public health training programs. Faced with immense changes in population health needs, public health professionals require a broader range of skills and expertise than ever before. In response to these issues the article aims to describe the development of a public health leadership curriculum as part of the European project entitled “Leaders for European Public Health” (LEPHIE) supported by the European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme. The article first discusses the theoretical underpinnings related to the public health leadership curriculum development. Secondly, its mission and objectives will be discussed. Thirdly, the methodological approaches and architecture of the programme are presented, and finally illustrates the features for quality assurance and the potential for future use in different contexts.