Dear members of the WFMH and colleagues from around the world,
We are pleased to announce that the WFMH World Congress on Mental Health 2025 will take place in the city of Barcelos, Portugal, from October 30 to November 1, 2025.
To facilitate broad international participation, the congress will be held in a hybrid format (in-person and virtual) and will offer simultaneous interpretation in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The theme for this edition is: “Mental Health and Social Sustainability: A Whole Society and Community-Based Approach”, a deeply relevant message in a global context where certain power narratives seek to impose individualism over collective approaches as the only viable path forward.
Since its first edition in London in 1948, this congress has been held every two years in different countries around the world. On this occasion, it will be co-organized by the Municipality of Barcelos and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), an international organization founded in 1948 and recognized by the WHO, UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Labour Organization (ILO), among other global bodies.
Social sustainability, one of the three pillars of sustainable development (alongside environmental and economic sustainability), holds a central place in the field of mental health. It refers to the ability of societies to ensure, over time, fair, equitable, and inclusive conditions that promote the psychological well-being of all people, without exclusion, discrimination, or rights violations.
This approach goes beyond the mere provision of clinical services: it calls for a profound transformation of the social, cultural, economic, and political conditions that impact mental health. It embraces human rights, social justice, active participation, and community life as fundamental pillars in building truly sustainable mental health systems.
The congress will be a pluralistic space, open to all voices and perspectives. We invite professionals, researchers, educators, service users, family members, and social organizations to submit papers, proposals, and experiences, whether directly related to the main theme or addressing other relevant issues in the field of mental health.
We look forward to building together a truly global, inclusive, and transformative gathering!
Alberto Trimboli
Chair International Scientific Committee
WFMH World Congress on Mental Health 2025