Loli meets in Finland to work on health strategies for older people

On February 12, 13 and 14, the third basic meeting of…
European project”One health 4 cities“.

At the international meeting, as part of the URBACT IV One Health project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, a delegation from the city council of Loulé met with members of the city council of Lyon (France), the metropolitan area of ​​Strasbourg (France) and the city from Munich (Germany), Elefsina (Greece) and Benissa. (Spain), Suceava (Romania), Kuopio (Finland) and the city of Lahti (Finland) itself.

Participants had the opportunity to analyze the strategic plans of the Finnish city, which was the “Green Capital of Europe” for 2021, and its innovative projects in the field of environmental education, nature sports and environmental transformation, according to a statement.

The partner cities of the European project “One Health for Cities” were also present at the international conference “People and Planet 2024”, organized by the University of Helsinki (Finland). The event attracted experts from all over Europe and showcased the latest scientific studies related to “health, environment and informal physical activity”.

Despite the “existing differences” between Loulé and Lahti, the challenges are very similar, with the “form and strategies” used by each city being different. Luli's goal is to continue the work started in 2015, to promote population health, through informal physical activity.

“In this case, the focus will be on the elderly and active aging,” he emphasizes. It is an area in which “a lot of work has already been done”, namely through interventions implemented in public spaces, in Loulé and Quarteira, in the context of “biocities”, for informal sport and the promotion of physical activity.

Regarding “healthy cities”, the municipality’s involvement mainly concerned the issue of “soft mobility”, especially in primary schools. He explains that the municipality has invested in “equipping schools” with bicycles as well as in promoting children’s first contact with bicycles, through classes in schoolyards, “given the large number of children who do not know how to ride a bicycle.”