As part of the PHASA conference in April 2025, the South African Learning Alliance for the District Health System (SALAD) hosted a workshop titled, ‘Advancing Knowledge for District Health System Strengthening’. The purpose of the workshop was to reflect on developments in, and achievements made by SALAD since its inception in 2022; and to engage public health practitioners in discussions around key aspects of the DHS, including Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC), community participation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and health financing.