November 5th we were thrilled to host our Healthy Lifestyles for Europe project (HL4EU) Community Building Conference, bringing together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders to advance cross-sectoral collaborations for healthier lifestyles across Europe.
Key Moments:
🔹 Alina Chebes (Sr Policy Officer, EuropeActive) kicked off the conference with a presentation of HL4EU’s vision and objectives, setting the stage for a day of impactful discussions.
🔹 Luz Divina De La Cruz (Science Manager, European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine e.V. (EIEIM) presented the ongoing work on the future hashtag HL4EU platform, gathering data, information and best practices about community-driven health initiatives.
🔹 Floor Van Houdt (Head of Sport Unit, DG EAC, European Commission) provided insights from the hashtag HealthyLifestyle4All campaign, showcasing the power of collaboration in linking sport and active lifestyles with health, food and other policies.
🔹 Juana Willumsen (Technical Officer, World Health Organization) presented data on physical inactivity levels, showcasing 31% of adults do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity and key recommendations for supporting Member States’ efforts.
🔹 Michele Cecchini (Head of Public Health, OECD – OCDE) introduced OECD’s initiatives on cross-sectoral collaboration for disease prevention and health promotion.
🔹 Knut Inge Klepp (Scientific Coordinator, JA PreventNCD) presented the Joint Action Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases project and how it helps assisting authorities in prioritising the most effective prevention strategies.
💬Panel Discussion on Cross-Sector Cooperation:
The event concluded with an insightful panel moderated by Jerome Pero (Secretary General, Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry), featuring Juana Willumsen (World Health Organization), Kitti Almer (Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU), Stefano Pintus (DG EAC, European Commission), and Dr. Ashley Ridout (Faculty of Sport & Exercise Medicine, UK). Each speaker shared their organisation’s approach to promoting health through partnerships, such as the European Commission’s hashtag HealthyLifestyle4All initiative and WHO’s work with governments to integrate physical activity policies across sectors. The speakers also addressed barriers like differing sector priorities, with examples from the UK’s Moving Medicine initiative on how to align health goals with broader sector interests.
🙏 Thank you to all our partners, speakers, and participants for a productive day of knowledge-sharing and collaboration. We hope to continue building on this momentum together, strengthening networks and forging impactful collaborations to advance healthy lifestyles across Europe🇪🇺
HL4EUhashtag HealthyLifestyle4All hashtag HealthCollaboration hashtag EUHealth hashtag Erasmus+