» Upcoming Conference/INFORMAS networking opportunity
» ICN meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2017
» ICO meeting, Vancouver, Canada, 2016
» Brisbane meeting, Queensland, Australia 2015
» Pakiri Meeting, Auckland 2014
» Bellagio Conference, Italy 2012
Upcoming conference/INFORMAS networking opportunities
Unfortunately the INFORMAS meeting planned during the 2020 World Public Health Nutrition Congress could not be held due to COVID-19. With international travel currently uncertain, we will be holding regular regionally-focused networking meetings electronically. If you are interested in participating, please contact us.
International Congress on Nutrition (ICN), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 15-20 October 2017.
ICO meeting, Vancouver, Canada, 2016
Brisbane meeting, Queensland, Australia, 2015
The 2015 INFORMAS meeting was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on Monday 31 August 2015 (full day) and Tuesday 1 September 2015 (half day). The meeting was hosted at the QUT Executive Education Centre beautifully situated next to the Brisbane River and the Botanic Gardens. There was a great turnout of 24 attendees from a broad range of countries – New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, USA and Canada – some of which are currently running INFORMAS modules and others who are applying for grants to run modules. It was a very informative meeting involving updates from module leaders and country representatives, with some productive discussions on challenges and future directions.The meeting was held in conjunction with the 9th ICDAM conference (1-3 September) where two INFORMAS symposia were presented by various INFORMAS members on Day 2 on: Benchmarking Food Environments ‘Country Experiences’ and ‘Key Challenges and Future Directions’. INFORMAS has had a lot of exposure over the past four months with two international symposia being presented in two countries (Scotland, Australia) with another symposium coming up in Los Angeles for Obesity Week in November. There has also been great interest at these events from academics and policy makers in joining the INFORMAS network.

From left to right: Ng (William) See Hoe, Sirinya Phulkerd, Tilakavati (Tilly) Karupaiah, Bridget Kelly, Michelle Crino, Stefanie Vandevijvere, Amanda Lee, Suladda (Kay) Pongutta, Rachel Williamson, Jillian Wate, Sally Mackay, Boyd Swinburn, Gary Sacks, Lana Vanderlee, Kitti Sranacharoenpong, Mary L’Abbe, Ngan Hoang, Araya Rojjanawanicharkorn. Attended meeting but not in picture: Bruce Neal, Sharon Friel, Erica D’Souza, Sue Krebs-Smith, Dana Olstad, Tina Buch
Pakiri Meeting, Auckland 2014
The INFORMAS meeting in NZ was held at Pakiri, Auckland on 12-14th March 2014. The FMHS funding supported the meeting that was held in a small slice of NZ paradise at Pakiri Beach. The invited group consisted; INFORMAS modules leaders (including the communications module), researchers from Mexico, Fiji, Thailand and NZ where pilot studies are being planned, 5 PhD students working on various aspects of INFORMAS and the INFORMAS secretariat. The aims of the meeting were to; 1) discuss progress related to the conversion of the modules into protocol; 2) plan the pilot studies, food environment surveys in various countries/regions, and; 3) work on the INFORMAS model for operating and lifting activities internationally.

Back row: Mike Rayner, Simon Barquera, Amanda Lee, Wendy Snowdon, Bruce Neal, Clare Dominick, Jillian Wate; Middle row: Bridget Kelly, Cliona Ni Mhurchu, Gary Sacks, Boyd Swinburn, Tim Lobstein, Sally Mackay, Wilasinee Adulyanon, Mary L’Abbe; Front row: Shiriki Kumanyika, Visith Chavasit, Sirinya Phulkerd, Michelle Crino, Melissa Mialon, Thaksaphon (Mek) Thamarangsi, Anandita Devi, Jane Landon, Sharon Friel, Stefanie Vandevijvere. Also present were: Christiaan Morssink, Erica D’Souza and Tina-Maria Eliott
Bellagio Conference, Italy 2012
The Rockefeller Foundation kindly supported a week-long conference at its spectacular facilities at Bellagio on Lake Como in Northern Italy. Twenty-three participants included the INFORMAS Module Leaders, food policy experts, representatives from major NGOs, experts from low and middle income countries, and observers from WHO and FAO. The team reviewed the foundation papers for each of the modules and the overall structure and strategic plans for INFORMAS and officially launched the network.

Back: David Sanders, Tim Lobstein, Mike Rayner, Justin Macmullan, Bruce Neal, Wendy Snowdon, Stefanie Vandevijvere, Jixiang Ma, Sharon Friel, Mary L’Abbe, Chris Walker, Bridget Kelly; Front: Carlos Monteiro, Simon Barquera, Francesco Branca, Janice Albert, Shiriki Kumanyika, Boyd Swinburn, Gary Sacks, Amanda Lee, Sailesh Mohan, Godfrey Xuereb, Corinna Hawkes