WONCA Wins 2025 Incredible Impacts Award for Lasting Rural Health Legacy

ICCA, in partnership with BestCities Global Alliance, has announced WONCA (the World Organization of Family Doctors) as the recipient of the 2025 Incredible Impacts Award, presented during the closing ceremony of the 64th ICCA Congress in Porto, Portugal.

The Incredible Impacts Programme celebrates international association meetings that go beyond tourism and economic value to create meaningful, long-term legacies for their host communities and industries.

WONCA was recognised for its 2022 World Rural Health Conference, held in Limerick, Ireland. The conference united family doctors, researchers and policymakers to address rural healthcare challenges and build a shared vision for equitable access. It was hosted by the University of Limerick, the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) and the Rural, Island and Dispensing Doctors of Ireland, in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau.

Professor Liam Glynn (cover photo), Conference Ambassador and Professor of General Practice at the University of Limerick, said: "We are delighted to accept the Incredible Impacts Award, but really is a story of a fantastic collaboration between Fáilte Ireland, UL Events, the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice, RIDDI, the ICGP, the University in Limerick and rural GPs and communities themselves in making Rural WONCA 2022 such an impactful conference with an outstanding social legacy which continues to this day in transforming rural healthcare."

Dr. Senthil Gopinath, ICCA CEO, said: “The Incredible Impacts Award continues to highlight how international association meetings can inspire real, measurable change. WONCA has demonstrated outstanding creativity and purpose in connecting people, knowledge, and community impact. We are honoured to celebrate their achievement at our Congress in Porto.”
 

Loren Christie, Managing Director, BestCities Global Alliance, said: “We’re proud to recognise WONCA for their outstanding leadership in advancing high-quality healthcare in rural and remote areas. This year’s record-breaking number of submissions was truly inspiring. Each one demonstrated how international meetings can be powerful catalysts for real, lasting change. The Incredible Impacts Programme proves that when business events are driven by purpose, their influence reaches far beyond the conference room and into communities worldwide.”

The Incredible Impacts Award winner receives USD 20,000 to further advance its legacy initiatives and inspire other associations to embed impact and sustainability at the heart of their events.

Other finalists included the International Federation of Endodontic Associations (IFEA) and International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS). The Seed Fund grant winner, recipient of the $5,000 USD grant, was Autism-Europe (AE).

The 2025 ICCA Congress in Porto, a groundbreaking multi-venue experience that brought together 1,540 delegates from 81 countries, focussed on innovation, co-creation, and legacy in the global meetings and events industry. It set a record as the largest Congress ever held in continental Europe. The next ICCA Congress will be held from 8-11 November, 2026, in Panama City, Panama.

Learn more about the Incredible Impact Awards here

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