8th Annual Meeting and Symposium of HEPA Europe

26-27 September 2012

Evaluation Report

Introduction

The European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA Europe) is a collaborative project which works for better health through physical activity among all people in the World Health Organsiation (WHO) European Region, by strengthening and supporting efforts to increase participation and improve the conditions for healthy lifestyles.

Membership is open to organisations and institutions active at the sub-national, national or international level willing to contribute to the goals and objectives of the network.

The network holds annual meetings and conferences, which are also open to non-members. The Physical Activity and Nutrition Network were asked to host the 8th Annual Meeting and Symposium of HEPA Europe in Cardiff.

Theme

The theme of the meeting was:

‘Getting to the grassroots: using the green environment to promote physical activity’

Location

The chosen locations were the Millennium Stadium for the symposium, the Millennium Centre for the annual meeting, Cardiff Museum for the welcome reception and Cardiff Castle for the symposium dinner.

Attendance

  • Number of registered delegates: 184
  • Number of delegates attended: 174 (95%)

Delegates included HEPA Europe members and non members from the UK and Europe including countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal and Italy and one person travelled from Australia for the event.Delegates included a mix

of researchers, statisticians, practitioners, policymakers and individuals working in the area of sport and physical activity.

Format

It was agreed that the main event would be held over 2 days (26-27 September), however a number of preparatory meetings were held on the 25 September as well as a welcome reception held at Cardiff Museum. The EU Contact Group Meeting for HEPA Europe was also held on the 25 September at County Hall, Cardiff Bay.

The symposium was held on the 26 September at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The Symposium started with a welcome address by the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Ruth Hussey and a keynote lecture by Dr William Bird on ‘Physical activity – the way to life’.

This was followed by a series of parallel sessions on a range of topics relating to the overall theme of the symposium. Delegates were invited to submit oral presentations and/or poster presentations which were reviewed by a panel.

The oral presentations which were most relevant to the theme of the

symposium were asked to present in the parallel sessions. The abstracts from these presentations can be viewed on the following website:

All posters were invited to present at the symposium and were displayed throughout the day with a dedicated viewing time after lunch.

The afternoon consisted of the following working groups of HEPA Europe:

  • Physical activity and sport promotion in youth
  • Active aging
  • HEPA promotion in socially disadvantaged groups
  • HEPA promotion in health care settings
  • HEPA promotion and injury prevention
  • Surveillance and monitoring of physical activity

Delegates had the option of taking part in the following activities at the end of the symposium:

  • Tour of the Millennium Stadium
  • ‘Pedal Power’ escorted cycle tour
  • Nordic walking

A symposium dinner was held at Cardiff Castle in the evening which was a welsh themed banquet with medieval entertainment.

The HEPA Europe Annual Meeting was held on the 27 September 2012 at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay.

Evaluation

The following information provides feedback from delegates via the evaluation forms included in everyone’s pack, and emails received following the event. Unfortunately only 44 evaluation forms (25%) were returned by delegates; however the majority of comments received were positive, some of which are detailed here:

There were a number of comments made regarding the parallel sessions and how there were too many presentations in a short space of time. This meant that some of them overran and delegates were late getting to their next session. This was made worse by the breakout rooms being very spread out. However the organisers were restricted to a limited number of rooms due to stadium availability.

The following feedback was received about the overall coordination of the day. Delegates were asked to answer the questions based on how they felt the day was organised where 1 = insufficient and 6 = excellent.

Percentage
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
Overall assessment of the event / 0 / 0 / 5 / 34 / 32 / 27
Venue / 2 / 5 / 5 / 25 / 25 / 34
Registration procedures / 0 / 2 / 2 / 21 / 27 / 48
Hospitality and service of conference staff / 0 / 0 / 0 / 16 / 39 / 45
Standard of catering / 2 / 2 / 5 / 16 / 41 / 27
Possibilities for exchange and networking / 0 / 9 / 5 / 18 / 30 / 23

In addition to the feedback received via the evaluation forms Ogilvie Design was present at the symposium to provide a unique artwork based method of sharing information and feedback. Using quick fire drawings Ogilvie Design captured the meaning behind the discussions at the symposium and built a gallery of A1 images which delegates could then comment on and rate using sticky post its. These drawings have now been converted in to full colour digital illustrations one of which can be seen here.

The rest of the illustrations along with Dr William Bird’s presentation and the full programme can be accessed via the following website:

Conclusion

The 8th annual meeting and symposium evaluated well and many delegates expressed their thanks for the organisation and smooth running of all activities.

Due to adverse weather on the day of the symposium less people took part in the activities than expected. No comments were received about the activities via the evaluation forms however a number of participants gave positive feedback to the organisers during the evening event and at the meeting on the following day. In addition to this ‘Pedal Power’ have expressed an interest to lead similar tours for future conferences and events.

The welcome reception and the symposium dinner were well attended and participants seemed to enjoy not only the entertainment and welcome they received but were very impressed with the venues they were held at. It is hoped that many of the European delegates will return in the future to experience other areas of Cardiff and Wales.