COP4HL knowledge alliance.
The Knowledge Alliance for Communities of Practice for Healthy Lifestyle (COP4HL) is an EU co-funded project undertaken between 2018 and 2020 by a starting consortium of 17 organisations from seven EU member states.
COP4HL is both the mother and a rich practice of Yanuz. It co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
The Knowledge Alliance develops and sustains local communities of practice to stimulate innovation and socio-economic development in the area of Healthy Ageing.
THE COP4HL RATIONAL
Healthy ageing of European citizens is of high priority on the EU agenda with the average life expectancy increasing. However, this development is accompanied with more chronic diseases, lower quality of life and higher costs. Today, around 90% of mortality in the European Union is due to non-communicable diseases and risk factors such as a person’s lifestyle.
This requires a fundamental rethinking of how we organize health and health policy. Much more emphasis should be laid upon prevention through stimulation of Healthy Lifestyle on a community scale.
However, although many scientists, decision-makers, and policymakers, as well as practitioners acknowledge the importance and necessity of this prevention objective, no big breakthroughs are reported so far.
Our COP4HL Knowledge Alliance positively contributes to this very complex EU wide societal and economic challenge of the promotion of a healthy lifestyle of European citizens.
Our Knowledge Alliance for Healthy Lifestyle developed six local communities of practice in five EU countries. All local communities of practice consider the specific needs, assets, current set-up, and previous experience of the local communities.
They enable to develop applicable community-based interventions towards a more healthy and active lifestyle of their citizens. Each local community of practice exists of higher education institutes, businesses, and public partners. Through the community of practice, local cooperation and social learning processes are stimulated, with direct involvement of the community’s citizens.
Click the picture below to learn from the six communities of practice in Alcobaca (PT), Groningen (NL), Malaga (Spain), Odense (DK), Kaunas (LT) and Cascais (PT).
