Conference Agenda

Purpose: A whole-of-government approach is needed to maximise public sector promotion of physical activity (PA). European governments have introduced many measures that may influence PA levels, but the volume of initiatives makes the overall level of implementation hard to assess. The Physical Activity Policy Environment Index (PA-EPI) provides a framework to document and assess policy implementation across government departments. National Evidence Documents map government policies and initiatives to the PA-EPI’s 45 indicators, detailing their scope and level of implementation, to enable assessment and cross-country comparison of governments’ actions.

Methods: In Romania, desk research was conducted, using key terms relevant to each of the 8 policy domains and 7 infrastructure support domains. In Ireland, the 2022 Evidence Document was updated by reviewing departmental and agency websites for new physical activity policies and checking for updates to existing initiatives.

Results: Research groups in each country developed a National Evidence Document, which provides an overview of key policies for physical activity promotion and the available data on their implementation (e.g., funding, adoption and equity concerns). The length of the National Evidence Documents varies between 97 pages (Romania) and 200 pages (Ireland).

Conclusions: The two National Evidence Documents provide a comprehensive overview of government action in Ireland and Romania. After being validated by government officials, they will inform future PA-EPI implementation ratings.

Funding: ERA4Health

Purpose: The aim of this presentation is to share Poland’s and Lithuania’s experience in validating the National Evidence Documents with policymakers as part of the PA-EPI implementation process, which is being implemented for the first time in Central and Eastern European countries.

Methods: The validation process was conducted between November and December 2025. In Lithuania, invitations to participate in the validation process were sent to all national ministries and municipalities. In Poland, half of the policymakers were affiliated with national ministries, while the other half represented the regional level of ministerial administration. Policymakers were asked to validate at least two PA policy domains.

Results: In Lithuania, a total of 52 policymakers were invited to participate; 21 completed the questionnaire, two declined participation, and two did not complete the survey. Approximately one-third of participants provided detailed comments and recommendations for improving the National Evidence Document. In Poland, a total of 22 policymakers were invited; 13 completed the questionnaire, nine declined participation, and three completed the survey during face-to-face meetings with a member of the research team. All feedback was systematically reviewed, and revisions were implemented accordingly. The validation process revealed gaps in understanding of institutional responsibilities for health-enhancing physical activity, particularly among sectors with indirect relevance to PA.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of intersectoral collaboration and structured stakeholder engagement in the validation of National Evidence Documents and in supporting evidence-informed physical activity policymaking.

Keywords: physical activity policy, health equity, PA-EPI, policymakers, validation, intersectoral collaboration

Funding: ERA4Health

Purpose: Engaging diverse stakeholders across government and non-government sectors is essential to inform the policy process. We describe how independent experts were engaged in benchmarking physical activity (PA) policy implementation and developing policy recommendations, drawing on comparative experiences from Germany and the Netherlands: two countries with different sizes and governmental structures. Germany's federal system distributes power between the central government and states, whereas the Dutch system emphasizes centralized, consensual decision-making.

Methods: Independent stakeholders were selected based on their objectivity (distance from policymaking) and expertise in PA promotion (and equity) and represented different PA-relevant sectors (e.g. education, transport, health). In both countries, these stakeholders used surveys to rate the extent of policy implementation against best practice guided by the evidence document. In workshops, stakeholders developed recommendations.

Results: In Germany, an online workshop with government and independent stakeholders (N=83) was conducted in 2026 to present an evidence document and to start the process of developing policy recommendations. Further data collection is ongoing and will be completed in spring 2026.

In the Netherlands, independent stakeholders rated 10 of 45 indicators as low implementation, 28 as medium, and 7 as high, which were presented in an in-person workshop in 2024 (N=16). The workshop generated 62 recommendations – of which 10 were prioritised – and was followed by a separate session with independent equity experts (N=11) to integrate equity considerations into the recommendations.

Conclusions: Stakeholder engagement adds value to the process of policy benchmarking and may strengthen the support for resulting recommendations.

Funding: ERA4Health

Purpose: Effective public policy is essential to promote physical activity, as its role is to change systems instead of individuals and will allow programmes and environments to collectively enhance physical activity (PA), thus reducing non-communicable diseases and inequity. Many countries have policies in place, but the implementation of those policies is often unknown.

Methods: To bridge this gap, the IMPAQT project has promoted policy benchmarking as a tool to improve policy implementation in six countries (Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland and Romania). Informed by the accountability framework, the PA Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI) process led by a research team with expertise in physical activity policy in each country was undertaken. Participatory research methods in collaboration with key government officials - policymakers across government departments - and non-government stakeholders - independent experts and an equity council – underpinned the co-creation and evaluation process.

Results: IMPAQT has produced six ‘evidence documents’ detailing government PA policies and their implementation status in each country. These were validated with policymakers (N=109, range 15-28 per country) to ensure each was an accurate representation of government action. Initial comparison reveals variable examples of policy implementation with country specific strengths e.g. Sport in Ireland, Transport in the Netherlands that provide useful learnings. The non-government stakeholders will independently assess implementation of their countries’ policies against best practices to produce country specific policy index scores. Stakeholders will also develop and prioritise policy recommendations.

Conclusion: Transnational comparisons will provide international benchmarks for healthy and equitable PA policy environments.

Funding: ERA4Health