15th annual meeting of HEPA Europe and the 10th Conference of HEPA Europe

30 August 2019, Odense, Denmark

The 15th Annual Meeting of HEPA Europe took place within the framework of the 10th Conference of HEPA Europe in Odense Denmark, kindly hosted by the University of Southern Denmark. The meeting was structured in two parts, with parallel sessions for the working groups held on the 28th of August and the Annual Meeting on 30th of August.

  • Parallel sessions of 8 HEPA Europe working groups (held on August 28)
  • Review of new applications for membership
  • Input from the parallel sessions of the working groups
  • Update on recent development and changes regarding WHO involvement in the HEPA Europe network, and next steps

The main aims of the meeting were to:

  1. Strengthen networking and exchange on physical activity promotion, in line with WHO’s Physical activity strategy for the WHO European Region 2016–2025, Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in the WHO European Region 2016–2025, and the EU Council Recommendation on promoting health-enhancing physical activity across sectors;
  2. Review and discuss progress made in HEPA Europe’s 15th year of activity, in particular in implementing the work programmes from 2018/2019 by the working groups.
  3. Discuss changes made within the HEPA Europe Steering Committee and WHO involvement highlighting the future steps of the HEPA Europe network.

The HEPA Europe annual meeting was attended by 33 participants, with HEPA Europe members from Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, together with representatives from the WHO, Regional Office for Europe. The meeting was chaired by Ms Wanda Wendel-Vos, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands.