Salut creates the Network of Health Promoting Educational Centers

The Department of Health of the Balearic Islands has created the Network of Health Promoting Educational Centers of the Balearic Islands (Xarxa CEPS Illes Balears), a tool to boost health promotion within the educational sphere with a comprehensive and participatory approach. The decision is detailed in Resolution 8417, signed by the Minister of Health Manuela García Romero on August 14, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) no. 104, of August 20, 2026, section III, page 45273.

The network was created to extend the health promoting centers model to all educational centers in the archipelago and to integrate into the future National Network of Health Promoting Schools, which will be composed of regional networks. The resolution is based on the right to public health protection (article 43 of the Spanish Constitution), the community’s exclusive competence in health promotion (article 30.48 of the Statute of Autonomy), and current health and educational regulations, such as Law 16/2010 on public health of the Balearic Islands.

Background and framework of the network

The initiative is rooted in the Schools for Health in Europe Network (SHE), established in 1991 and dissolved in 2025, which the WHO and UNICEF, with the collaboration of UNESCO and EuroHealthNet, are referencing as the European network. In the Balearic Islands, the Health Promoting Educational Centers Program (CEPS) has been developed since the 2014-2015 academic year, promoted by the departments of education and health, and in 2023 the Guide for health promoting schools was published, prepared by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports.

Early childhood, primary, secondary, and adult education centers, whether publicly owned or supported by public funds and located in the Balearic Islands, may be part of the network if they register for the CEPS program through the Department of Education and Universities.

Commitments and accreditation levels

Interested centers commit to:

• Creating a health promotion commission (or integrating the program into an existing commission).
• Developing an initial diagnosis of the center’s situation.
• Developing a multi-year health project and evaluating it within a period not exceeding five years, in a process of continuous improvement.

The network establishes five accreditation levels:

• Level 0: centers registered in the CEPS program.
• Level 1 or initial: commission created and situational diagnosis completed.
• Level 2 or basic: health project written and underway.
• Level 3 or intermediate: evaluation of the project’s process and results.
• Level 4 or excellent: level 3 centers that meet all the standards of the ministerial guide.

Centers maintain their status indefinitely and do not lose the level achieved, although they may notify the coordinating body of their withdrawal.

Coordination and resources

The coordination of the CEPS Network is the responsibility of a commission composed of a representative from the Directorate General of Public Health of the Department of Health and a representative from the Directorate General of Early Childhood, Attention to Diversity and Educational Improvement of the Department of Education and Universities. Its functions include promoting the program, offering training and workshops, providing technical support, establishing the criteria for adherence and accreditation, evaluating level changes, and monitoring the network.

Against the resolution, which exhausts the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the Minister of Health within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands within two months.

The creation of the CEPS Network represents a step toward consolidating health as a transversal axis of the Balearic educational system, with a progressive accreditation model that recognizes the effort of the centers and connects them with the future national and European network of health-promoting schools.

Source: Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands, no. 104, August 20, 2026, Section III, p. 45273 (official reference: Resolution 8417).