Conclusion: policy messages and future agenda

This chapter presents policy messages derived from this report. Education is not a silver bullet. However, it has a significant potential to promote health and social cohesion by fostering cognitive, social and emotional skills as well as positive attitudes, habits and norms that can help trigger healthy lifestyles and active citizenship. Promoting these competencies is most likely to be fruitful when home and community environments are in line with education-based efforts. This calls for ensuring policy coherence across sectors and stages of education. Early childhood education and care offers particular examples of how integrated and co-ordinated actions can be effectively made and extended to other levels of education. The challenge is no doubt immense, but the returns to well-being and social progress from improving education can be significant.