On 1-2 February, partners of the Healthy Lifestyles for Europe (HL4EU) project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, held their first meeting in Lyons, France. Hosted by the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS) and the Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and coordinated by EuropeActive, the meeting formally kickstarted the activities of the HL4EU project and was marked by shared enthusiasm of all partners to get the ball rolling.
The aim of the HL4EU project is to foster greater cross-sectoral approaches to healthy lifestyle promotion, through the integration of physical activity, among a variety of stakeholders from the sport, physical activity, outdoor, health and mobility sectors. The goals of the project are in line with the European Commission and WHO’s vision and existing policy initiatives to tackle the growing burden of NCDs on our people, healthcare systems and society at large, and to reduce widespread health inequalities within and across EU Member States.
The project will run between January 2024 – June 2026 and aim to achieve the aforementioned objectives by:
- Strengthening the sustainability and legacy of the HL4A campaign;
- Enabling further sectoral change by identifying and sharing good practices;
- Facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration on healthy lifestyle promotion by developing a dedicated stakeholders’ platform;
- Contributing to future healthy lifestyles related policy development through policy recommendations;
- Raising awareness on the importance of healthy lifestyles with governments, civil society and the general public.
During the meeting, partners held in-depth discussions on the design and implementation of the project and reflected on how to manage each activity and deliverable in the most efficient way. The core activities of 2024 will centre around the publication of the Call to Action in May 2024, a reference document illustrating the need for increased cross-sectoral approaches to healthy lifestyles, and the Community Building Conference in November 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. The consortium will also launch the landing page of the Cross-Sectoral Healthy Lifestyles Platform which will serve as the main hub for all project related activities and play a key role in attracting organisations outside of the consortium who want to work on promoting healthy lifestyles.
We want to thank all our project partners for their active participation and invaluable contributions throughout the meeting. The HL4EU project consortium is composed of: EuropeActive, Greek Carers Network (EPIONI), European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM), European Liver Patients’ Association (ELPA), European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS), Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), It’s Great Out There Coalition (IGOTCo), and POLIS network. We are thrilled to see what the HL4EU project will achieve and will be sharing all the exciting updates with our members and partners along the way.
Stay tuned!
