As a follow-up of the Eleventh Futures Forum held in June 2007, the World Health Organisation European Region launched a publication focused on some countries’ experience in applying ethical governance approaches to a major contemporary policy concern for WHO and its Member States: preparedness for an influenza pandemic. The topic provided a concrete policy-making example to give evidence of the efficacy of generic ethical governance approaches in European health systems. For further information, the document is available online on the WHO European Region website.