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IMPAQT
 

Workshop​

  • Physical activity policy implementation: Measures, methods and means of evaluation. Presenting Authors: Catherine Woods, Kevin Volf, Sven Messing and Aurelie Van Hoye (UL) Peter Gelius (Switzerland), Petru Sandu (Romania), Rasa (Lithuania) Joanna Zukowska (Poland), Nicole den Braver (Netherlands)  HEPA (Kaunas, Lithuania), 16th September 2025.
  • Physical activity policy implementation: Measures, methods and means of evaluation. PAfH Summer School, September 2025.
  • Physical activity policy implementation: Measures, methods and means of evaluation.&Բ;​ċċPresenting Authors: Catherine Woods, Kevin Volf, Sven Messing and Aurelie Van Hoye (UL) Peter Gelius (Switzerland), Petru Sandu (Romania), Rasa (Lithuania) Joanna Zukowska (Poland), Nicole den Braver (Netherlands). ISPAH Congress (Paris, France), 28-31st October 2024.

 

Symposia

  • PA-EPI Overview. Presenting Authors:  Catherine Woods, Kevin Volf, Sven Messing and Aurelie Van Hoye. WHO, HEPA (Dublin, Ireland) 19-21st August 2024.
  • IMPAQT Overview. Presenting Authors: Catherine Woods, Kevin Volf, Sven Messing and Aurelie Van Hoye (UL) , Peter Gelius (Switzerland), Petru Sandu (Romania), Rasa (Lithuania) Joanna Zukowska (Poland), Nicole den Braver (Netherlands). WHO, HEPA (Dublin, Ireland) 19-21st August 2024.
  • When policy solutions are necessary but insufficient to address physical inactivity: Are we up to the challenge?  Presenting Authors: Catherine Woods (UL) Adrian Bauman (Sydney), Andrea Ramirez (Texas), Justin Richards (New Zealand), Katje Siefkin (Germany), Wanda Wendel Vos (Netherlands). ISPAH Congress (Paris, France), 28-31st October 2024.
  • Addressing Equity in Traffic Safety: Application of the PA-EPI Methodology within the IMPAQT Framework. Presenting Author: Joanna Zukowska. RS5C, February 2025
  • Advancing knowledge on equitable physical activity policy implementation: Learnings from the IMPAQT consortium Presenting Authors: Catherine Woods, Kevin Volf, Sven Messing and Aurelie Van Hoye (UL), Peter Gelius (Switzerland), Petru Sandu (Romania), Rasa (Lithuania) Joanna Zukowska (Poland), Nicole den Braver (Netherlands), WHO HEPA Conference (Kaunas, Lithuania), 16-19th September 2025.
    •  A rapid review examining the impact of public policy on equity in physical activity. Presenting Authors: Fleur Heuvelman, Leonie Birkholz, Dr. Antonina Tcymbal, Dr. Jeroen Lakerveld, Prof. Joline WJ Beulens, Prof. Catherine Woods, Dr. Karim Abu-Omar, Dr. Kevin Volf, Dr. Petru Sandu, Dr. Rasa Jankauskiene, Anna Gobis, Dr. Joanna Wachnicka, Prof. Joanna Żukowska,  Prof. Peter Gelius, Linda J Schoonmade, Dr. Sven Messing & Dr. Nicolette R den Braver.
    • Providing Guidance on Equity and Physical Activity Policy: The development of the PA-EPI Equity Module. Sven Messing, Leonie Birkholz, Karim Abu-Omar, Antonina Tcymbal, Peter Gelius, Nicole den Braver, Fleur Heuvelman, Petru Sandu, Enrique Garcia Bengoechea, Kevin Volf, Joanna Zukowska, Rasa Jankauskiene, Christopher Gidlow, Adrian Bauman, Catherine Woods.
    • Equitable recruitment of expert and citizens councils: Guidance from the IMPAQT project on physical activity policy benchmarking. Presenting Authors: Inès Abdelli, Peter Gelius.
    • Showcasing Great Physical Activity Policy; Development of IMPAQTs list of Best Practice Exemplars Kevin Volf, Rasa Jankauskiene, Wojciech Kustra, Anna Barrero, Aurelie Van Hoye, Enrique García Bengoechea, Migle Bacevicience, Anna Gobis, Joanna Wachicha, Joanna Zukowska, Fleur Heuvelmans, Nicole Den Braver, Leonie Birkholz, Sven Messing, Laszlo Peters, Petru Sandu, Catherine Woods.
  • Increasing health equity through promoting healthy diets and physical activity (Health Equity) Chair: Joanna Zukowska. ISBNPA (Auckland, NZ), July 2025.
    • Improving Physical Activity policies in urban design to enhance their impact on physical activity and health equity. Presenting Authors: Kevin Volf, Wojciech Kustra, Rasa Jankauskiene, Migle Baceviciene, Anna Barrero, Anna Gobis, Joanna Wachnicka, Leonie Birkholz, Sven Messing, Fleur Heuvelman, Nicolette R Den Braver, Petru Sandu, Laszlo Peters, Aurelie Van Hoye, Enrique García Bengoechea, Joanna Żukowska & Catherine Woods.
    • A scoping review examining the evidence for enhancing equity in physical activity (PA) through public policy.   Fleur Heuvelman, Dr. Sven Messing, Leonie Birkholz, Dr. Antonina Tcymbal, Prof. Catherine Woods, Dr. Jeroen Lakerveld, Prof. Joline Beulens, Dr. Karim Abu-Omar, Dr. Kevin Volf, Dr. Petru Sandu, Dr. Rasa Jankauskiene, Anna Gobis, Dr. Joanna Wachnicka, Prof. Joanna Żukowska,  Prof. Peter Gelius, Linda J Schoonmade & Dr. Nicole R den Braver.

 

Talks at scientific conferences

  • Translating physical activity research into policy: Current approaches and challenges. Presenting Author: Sven Messing. All-Island Obesity Forum (Online), 17th June 2025.
  • Reducing inequalities through physical activity policies. Presenting Authors: Sven Messing, Fleur Heuvelman, Leonie Birkholz, Kevin Volf, Catherine Woods & Nicole den Braver. SPARC (Edinburgh, Scotland) 4th December 2024.
  • How to reduce social inequities in the field of physical activity policy?   Co-producing policy recommendations in 6 EU countries. Presenting Author: Sven Messing. ICPP (Chiang Mai, Thailand), July 2025

 

Poster at scientific conferences

  • Collaborative policy implementation assessment; why the PA-EPI process should be used in Scotland. Presenting Authors: Kevin Volf, Sven Messing, Catherine Woods. SPARC (Edinburgh, Scotland), 4th December 2024

 

 

Pre-IMPAQT

Nutrition-related abstracts and publications are available on the PEN website:

 

Workshop

2021

  • Webinar: Implementation of direct fruit and vegetables provision interventions in schools, webinar led by Biljana Meshkovska at the Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, 4 May 2021.

2020

  • Webinar: Measuring policy actions for healthy and sustainable food and physical activity environments - A SIG Policies and Environment webinar, webinar led by PEN and the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA), 22 September 2020. Find more information and the recording of this webinar .
  • Identifying the 'best buys' in public policy for promotion of physical activity and healthy nutrition; Can we do it? If yes, How? Why? and What we can learn from each other.  at the 19th Meeting of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (SBNPA) - Advancing Behaviour Change Science, Auckland, New Zealand, 17-20 June 2020.

2019

  • Policy impact indicators. Expert workshop at the Robert Koch Institute. Berlin, Germany, 26-27 September 2019.
  • Taxation policies regarding sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and other junk foods. Learning from experience. Workshop at the . Debrecen, Hungary, 25 April 2019.
  • Health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policy audit tool (PAT) Training. HEPA-PAT training workshop at the Kick-off Meeting of the PEN project. Bremen, Germany, 5 February 2019.
  • Overview of Food Environment Policy Index (Food EPI) Processes. Food-EPI training workshop at the Kick-off Meeting of the PEN project. Bremen, Germany, 4 February 2019.
  • European Food Environment Policy Index (Food EPI) Roadmap development. Food-EPI training workshop at the Kick-off Meeting of the PEN project. Bremen, Germany, 4 February 2019.
  • Workshop for stakeholders consultation. Stuttgart, Germany, 4 February 2019.

2018

  • Health Policies, Theories and Implementation Research. Pre-PEN Workshop at the, Warsaw, Poland, 21-23 September 2018.

 

Symposia

2020

  • Virtual joint workshop: Disrupting childhood obesity trends across Europe; a joint symposium of CO-CREATE, STOP and PEN 
        - CO-CREATE: CO-CREATE: Cocreating policies with youth in Europe (Professor Knut-Inge Klepp)
        - STOP: Strengthening evidence and engaging different actors (Professor Franco Sassi)
        - PEN: Monitoring and accountability of public policies across Europe (Professor Wolfgang Ahrens)
    at the European and International Congress on Obesity (ECO-ICO 2020), 2 Septemer 2020.
  • Virtual joint symposium „Addressing health policy and research at the STOP/ CO-CREATE/ PEN Symposium”, 30th June 2020. A virtual joint symposium of the STOP, CO-CREATE and PEN was organized with key members of the three consortia as an opportunity for the projects to collaborate and share updates on progress to date. Quotes from the coordinators of the STOP, CO-CREATE and PEN project, as well as the link to the recorded symposium on 30th June 2020 can be found at the website of the STOP project .
  • What can we learn from food and physical activity policy evaluation to maximise impact on health and sustainability: The intersection between research and practice. Symposium at the 19th Meeting of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) - Advancing Behaviour Change Science. Auckland, New Zealand, 17-20 June 2020.

 

Talks at scientific conferences

2020

  • Key indicators for harmonized European population health surveillance: an iterative approach. Speaker: Stefanie Do. Talk at the 16th World Congress on Public Health /EUPHA 2020 - Public health for the future of humanity: analysis, advocacy and action, virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • Health surveillance indicators: what is available in European data sets for policy evaluation?. Speaker: Isobel Stanley. Talk at the 16th World Congress on Public Health /EUPHA 2020 - Public health for the future of humanity: analysis, advocacy and actio, virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • Systematic review examining the evidence for impact of school policies on physical activity. Speaker: Catherine Woods. Talk at the 16th World Congress on Public Health /EUPHA 2020 - Public health for the future of humanity: analysis, advocacy and action, virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • Evaluation of policy measures to promote a healthy diet and physical activity – The PEN Project. Speaker: Wolfgang Ahrens. Talk at the 16th World Congress on Public Health /EUPHA 2020 - Public health for the future of humanity: analysis, advocacy and action, virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • A Physical Activity Policy Audit of four PEN countries: What can we learn for sustainability and health promotion? Measuring policy actions for healthy and sustainable food and physical activity environments. Speaker: Sven messing. At the SIG Policies and Environment webinar,PEN/ISBNPA, 22 September 2020.
  • Policy impact evaluation: Simulation modeling and quasi-experimental methods. Spaeker: Michael Laxy. Talk at the Joint STOP/ CO-CREATE/ PEN symposium, virtual Conference, June 2020.
  • Monitoring and benchmarking government policies and actions to improve the healthiness of food environments in Europe: Progress on Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) in Europe. Speaker: Janas Harrington. Talk at the Joint STOP/ CO-CREATE/ PEN symposium, virtual Conference, June 2020.
  • Politische Rahmenbedingungen für Ernährung in Deutschland: Eine Politikfeldanalyse mit Expertenbefragung. Speaker: Peter von Philipsborn. Talk at the 36th Annual Meeting of the German Association for the Study of Obesity, Leipzig, Germany, June 2020.
  • Building a literature-based systems map of determinants of dietary intake in low-income groups as a basis for health equity policies. Speaker: Alexia Sawyer. Talk at the ISBNPA Xchange, virtual meeting, June 2020.
  • The Work of the WHO CC for Physical Activity and Public Health at FAU. Speaker: Peter Gelius. Invited talk at the Kick-off meeting of the EU-sponsored LOGOPAS project. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 4-5 February 2020.

2019

  • Public policies addressing health-related behaviours in Europe. Speaker: Wolfgang Ahrens. Expert workshop to identify indicators important for monitoring and surveillance in young and adult populations. Berlin, Germany, 26-27 September 2019.
  • The Physical activity and sedentary behaviour side of PEN. Speaker: Catherine Woods. Invited talk at the . Odense, Denmark, 28-30 August 2019.
  • The Work of the WHO CC for Physical Activity and Public Health at FAU. Speakers: Peter Gelius, Karim Abu-Omar. Invited talk at the meeting of the Workgroup “Physical activity in everyday life” of the German Ministry of Health. Berlin, Germany, 7 May 2019.
  • Public policies addressing health-related behaviours in Europe
    Policy mapping and EPI development. Speaker: Janas Harrington. Invited talk at the, Belgium, 20 February 2019.

2018

  • Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). Speaker: Catherine Woods. Invited talk at the . London, United Kingdom, 15-17 Oktober 2018.
  • Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). Speaker: Catherine Woods. Invited talk at the working group of the European network for the promotion of health-enhancning physical activity (HEPA). Video conference, 11 June 2018.
  • Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions - Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). Speaker: Lucia Reisch. Internal event at the Copenhagen Business School. Copenhagen, Denmark, 23 March 2018.
  • Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions - Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). Speaker: Antje Hebestreit & Sarah Forberger. Internal event ("Jour-Fixe") at BIPS, Bremen, Germany, 5 February 2018.

 

Poster at scientific conferences

2021

  • A pan-European approach to assess the impact of policies on health behavior. Author: Stefanie DO. Digital Public Health organized by the Early Career Researcher Academy Bremen and Digital Health Malta, online presentation, October 2021.

2020

  • Policy implementation evaluation: a stakeholder-centred approach. Author: Daniel Scheller. , virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • Talk Sub-national structures matter when evaluating physical activity promotion: Lessons from Germany. Author: Sarah Forberger. , virtual meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2020.
  • Policy Evaluation: a comprehensive European approach by the JPI HDHL Network PEN. Author: Antje Hebestreit. , Dublin, Ireland, 17-20 May 2020.

2019

  • European Project Policy Evaluation Network (PEN): geriatric point of view. Roma Krzymińska-Siemaszko et al. . Krakow, Poland, 25-27 September 2019.
  • Effectiveness of Existing Policies for Lifestyle Interventions – Policy Evaluation Network – WP4 Implementation. Daniel Scheller et al. . Amsterdam, Netherlands, 20-21 September 2019.
  • Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) - Fostering Sustainable and Active Transport in Copenhagen. Noah Peters & Lucia Reisch.  organised by Frederiksberg Municipality and hosted by Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Copenhagen, Denmark, 13-14 September 2019.
  • Siec ewaluacji polityk – projekt europejski; zadania Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Poznaniu (European Project Policy Evaluation Network: from the perspective of Poznan University of Medical Sciences). Katarzyna Wieczorowska-Tobis et al. National conference for dieticians. Poznan, Poland, 2 March 2019.

2017

  • Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions - Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). Speaker: Wolfgang Ahrens. Invited talk at the . Brussels, Belgium, 1 December 2017.

 

 

Principal Investigator: Professor Catherine WoodsIMPAQT

Physical Activity for Health (PAfH) Research Centre
Health Research Institute
Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences
Faculty of Education and Health Sciences
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Ireland

Email: catherine.woods@ul.ie