Collegial Interviews: connecting CCC leaders across Europe

By connecting leaders of Comprehensive Cancer Centres across Europe, the Collegial Interviews organised as part of the EUnetCCC project enable CCC leaders in different countries to share experiences and learn from each other. 

Collegial Interviews are a structured, peer-based learning initiative that support leaders of Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) to strengthen governance, organisation and leadership practices.  Many CCC leaders face complex organisational challenges in relative isolation, so this initiative creates a space for active, experience-based knowledge exchange that enables CCC leaders to learn directly from one another.

Governance, organisation and leadership are all critical enablers in the journey towards comprehensiveness, as cancer centres integrate care, research and education. Collegial Interviews generate practice-based insights and foster collaboration between cancer centres.  This activity is part of Work Package 8 (WP8) of EUnetCCC - the European Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres - that develops joint and network activities.

16 centres from across Europe participated in the first programme

The Collegial Interview programme brings together leaders from both established and aspiring CCCs across Europe, reflecting a range of organisational forms, healthcare systems and local contexts.  Sixteen cancer centres from sixteen European countries participated in the first programme, with interviews beginning in September 2025.

Participating centres were paired in a reciprocal approach: each centre visited its pair and, in turn, hosted a return visit.  Visits comprised two days of roundtable discussions and individual interviews.  Interviews and discussions were semi-structured and supported by facilitators from the project team.

The format encouraged openness and candour.  Participants engaged as peers not evaluators, which created a cooperative atmosphere of honest reflection and practical knowledge sharing.

As one participant noted:

Being interviewed without the stated goal of assessment provides… a more relaxed setting where you dare to be a bit more reflective over strengths and weaknesses.”  

Edvard Abel, Centre Director, Sahlgrenska CCC

Supported deeper learning and insight

The primary beneficiaries were CCC leaders and management teams.  Leaders working on complex governance and organisational questions often lack opportunities for structured, peer-level exchange. 

By enabling active and focused engagement, the programme supported deeper learning and more actionable insight.  Participants could compare approaches, explore context-sensitive adaptations and gain new ideas. 

INT Pascale colleagues provided us with invaluable insights and candid information that we will integrate into our practices to enhance patient care. 

Panos Ergatoudes, CEO, Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre

A governance-oriented network emerges

Beyond the pair relationships, the programme aims to strengthen relationships across centres further by bringing participating centres together as a network, for topic-focused workshops and training for future CCC leaders.  In this way, the Collegial Interview programme has laid the foundation for the development of a sustainable, supportive and governance-oriented network of CCC leaders.

Next round due to start in autumn

Collegial Interviews demonstrate the value of structured, peer-based exchange to address the governance, organisation and leadership challenges of Comprehensive Cancer Centres.  By bringing leaders together to share experiences and develop solutions collaboratively, the initiative strengthens both individual organisations and the wider European CCC community.

A second programme of Collegial Interviews will begin in Q3 2026, extending the benefits of the Collegial Interview programme to a new cohort of cancer centres and establishing a second governance-oriented network of CCCs.

Want to know more?

To find out more about how your centre can participate, please contact the subtask project manager, Susanne Pinnock, at supinn@ous-hf.no