Our partner city in Slovenia has turned an unmanageable patch of land into a play area accessible to everyone. This beautiful playground in Ljubljana used to be home to a vast collection of informal and illegal allotment gardens – defined as green space in planning documents, but in reality out of public use. Until 2007 the ground, next to the iconic Žale cemetery designed by Slovene architect Jože Plečnik, was described as a problem area. It had many garden…

Has your city responded to the Project PACTE survey on physical activity? More than 200 cities and towns from 26 countries have already taken part in what will be the biggest ever research project into active city strategies in Europe. The results will be used to create a measuring tool to monitor local physical activity levels, and free resources for places that want to become active cities. Project PACTE – Promoting Active Cities Throughout Europe – is run by the think…

The Active Well-being Initiative (AWI) was created by two non-profit making bodies, Evaleo and TAFISA. The idea to create a Global Active City Standard was instigated by both organisations, bringing together their complementary know-how and expertise, with the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Evaleo, a well-being and sustainable health organisation and facilitator, led the creation of the standard, tapping into a network of over 70 specialists and researchers in urban management, physical activity, health and sport science. The…

City leaders from across the world are coming together this week to share ideas about how to create active, healthy, happy communities. Representatives of eight cities, two sports bodies, and a national government will attend a workshop about the Global Active City programme run by the Active Well-being Initiative. The event in Liverpool, UK, from 7-9 March will include field trips to projects that have successfully encouraged tens of thousands of people to take up regular physical activity. Liverpool, a…

Cities across the world are being urged to sign up to the Global Active City programme, a new health and physical activity promotion scheme that is proven to increase individual and collective well-being among the world’s growing urban population. With many more to come, ten pilot cities are currently testing the Global Active City model and show significant improvements in sports participation and public health outcomes. The scheme is now being rolled out worldwide, with all cities invited to join…

Some of our teams are in Montréal this week to attend the Smart Cities & Sport Summit 2017, organised by the World Union of Olympic Cities. There will be a presentation by the AWI at the conference today, Tuesday 3 October.