On Tuesday November 16th, the European Federation of Company Sport hosted a hybrid conference on active workplaces post COVID-19 at the Tour & Taxi site in Brussels.
During his opening statement, Philippe Paquay, Director General of Sport Vlaanderen, expanded on the work of the Flemish Government in the area of active workplaces and emphasised the importance of physical activity for the wellbeing of employees. His statement was followed by an introductory speech from Floor Van Houdt, Head of Sport Unit at the EU Commission, who expressed the Commission’s desire to create a new normal that is better in terms of the health and wellbeing of Europeans. She highlighted the European Commission’s HealthyLifestyle4All campaign, which was launched in September this year and the #BEACTIVE Awards, which includes a workplace category.
Subsequently, Yves Le Lostecque, Head of Erasmus Mundus & Sport Unit at EACEA, went into more detail about the funding opportunities for physical activity promotion, including at the workplace, offered by the Erasmus+ programme. He stressed the fact that the European Commission recognises the importance and potential of physical activity for health and economic growth and that there’s a significant increase in the funding for physical activity and sport in the current funding cycle for the Erasmus+ programme.
The introductory remarks were followed by updates and discussion on the Workplace Active Certificate and Healthy Employee Mobile Active project, both EU funded actions under the Erasmus+ programme, which provided the framework for this conference.