Conference Agenda

The purpose of the project was to foster and encourage a systems approach to physical activity promotion in West Wales. Informed by the WHO Global Action Plan for Physical Activity a systems thinking training programme was developed with a regional sport and physical activity partnership to support them to embed a systems approach into ways of working across their region. The target group were stakeholders in sport and physical activity in the West Wales Sports Partnership region. This project is innovative because it acknowledges that to adopt a systems approach, stakeholders require both knowledge and confidence to implement new ways of working.

Systems thinking workshops (n=5) were designed and delivered over a 12-month period in West Wales, covering four local authority areas. Workshops were attended by stakeholders (n=93) involved in sport and physical activity from across the region. A mixed method evaluation included a pre and post workshop survey and qualitative interviews to capture learning from implementation.

Survey results demonstrate that levels of knowledge, confidence and likelihood to adopt a systems approach improved post training. Interviews provided evidence of a shifting of perspective from programming to a more people and places focus; ‘it has definitely shifted our thinking’.

Actively engaging with multisectoral organisations and leaders across a region to foster a collective, new way of working, reflects a contemporary ambitious approach. It demonstrates a commitment by a regional organisation to embrace systems thinking and foster better collaboration and seek alternative, systems-based solutions, to physical inactivity in West Wales.