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Engage and Exchange Sessions Overview

The Engage and Exchange sessions at IMNHC 2026 will create opportunities to learn, share and connect with peers through creative formats such as share fairs, knowledge cafes, and curated storytelling, highlighting implementation challenges and successes. The overarching objective of these sessions is to “engage and exchange” through deeper discussion, dialogue, debate, and create personal connections surrounding the most critical maternal and newborn health challenges.

Through these sessions, IMNHC 2026 attendees will: understand more deeply what does maternal and newborn health look like every day, in practice, in context; bring forth real experience at different levels; identify where we are failing to address real challenges or barriers to maternal and newborn health; create opportunities to identify and explore places where new thinking or new approaches are needed; and highlight how challenges in implementation are being addressed.

Format & Experience

There will be many ways to share your wisdom and learn from others during these sessions. Below are a summary of interactive session types:

FormatWhat is this?Is this relevant to me?
Share FairThis will be a marketplace style session, featuring a series of stations with simultaneous semi-formal interactions to share your implementation wisdom, tools, stories, adaptations and micro-innovations with your peers.

There will be two sessions of the “Share Fair”, each 75-minutes in duration. Sharers should prepare 5–15-minute informal presentations as participants roam.

This practical session would be a good opportunity for you to share, for example:

  • A demonstration or activity that “shows” your idea.
  • A case study, personal story, or relatable wisdom, i.e., the “tip” or anecdote you always share with your peers.   
  • A story about how you adapted, modified or developed a job aid, tool, method, process, interaction, training guide or other micro-innovation.   
  • The challenge you solved, and how you did it, for example when you created a checklist or rearranged a delivery room to make it more efficient. 
Knowledge CafeThese dialogues will be an opportunity to invite participants to gather in small groups around a table for an intimate and in-depth exchange of ideas, experiences, and feedback around priority MNH topics. Each dialogue is guided by a participant host who will frame the conversation and facilitate discussion around essential questions.   

There will be two sessions of the “Knowledge Cafe”, each 75-minutes in duration. Hosts will be responsible for guiding questions and facilitation of an approximately 6-10 person table. 

This practical session would be a good opportunity for you to lead, for example:  

  • Do you have unanswered questions about MNH implementation?  
  • Are you facing a challenge that would benefit from multi-dimensional thinking?  
Storytelling Showcase  In these sessions, you’ll hear directly from individuals whose lived experience is critical to informing how we design and deliver maternal newborn health products, services and the health system. These inspirational or cautionary tales illustrate the real opportunities and challenges in putting evidence to action and providing provision of appropriate, respectful care of all those affected. This curated session is designed to center voices often left out of global forums—especially parents and caregivers—and create a shared space for reflection and connection.   

There will be two sessions of the “Storytelling Showcase”, each 75-minutes in duration. Applicants will propose 15–30-minute stories in duration.

There will be a two-stage selection process for stories and short-listed stories will be invited to submit video or audio samples. 

Do you have a personal story that you would like to share during the Storytelling Showcase? For example: 

  • Do you have a story that helps to illustrate the themes of the conference, making this real for participants.  
  • Do you have a connection with a mother, caregiver or frontline health worker who has a story to share?   
Participatory Learning Sessions  These participatory sessions invite conference participants to engage in dynamic hands-on learning, exploration and capacity bridging. Designed to foster inclusive dialogue and practical takeaways, sessions could be a design lab, mini-u skills share, town-hall style dialogue, or feedback session. Participants will co-create solutions to pressing public health challenges or explore visionary ideas for the future.   

There will be four learning sessions, each 75-minutes in duration. Facilitators will be responsible for designing the entire session for approximately 40 participants. 

Would you like to host a learning session for fellow participants? For example: 

  • Do you have a tool or approach that you would like to share or get feedback on?  
  • Do you have a design challenge that you would like to work through?  
  • Would you like to facilitate a debate on a hot topic?  

 

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Selected presenters will receive access to a number of full-conference tickets (must be purchased separately), granting them access to all IMNHC 2026 sessions and events. See below: 

  • Share Fair: receive access to one full-conference ticket  
  • Knowledge Cafe: receive access to one full-conference ticket  
  • Storytelling Showcase: receive access to one full-conference ticket 
  • Participatory Learning Sessions: receive access to two full-conference tickets 

 

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