It’s Great Out There Coalition pledges to deliver thousands of Outdoor Activity Days to support European Commission’s HealthyLifestyle4All campaign

The It’s Great Out There Coalition is delighted to support HealthyLifestyle4All, the European Commission’s two-year campaign that aims to link sport and active lifestyles with health, food and other policies. The coalition and the #itsgreatoutthere campaign that we lead are already key partners for a range of Commission initiatives, embedding the outdoor sector in the development of policy and on-the-ground projects that are designed to encourage and facilitate more active lifestyles for physical and mental wellbeing. HealthyLifestyle4All is the latest initiative that will push that vital agenda throughout Europe and the coalition will play a full and proactive role in it.

Launched towards the end of 2021, HealthyLifestyle4All (HL4A) will showcase the European Commission’s commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for all, across generations and social groups. Stakeholders involved in sport and physical activity have been asked to submit public pledges that outline what they will do to back HL4A. In response, we have pledged to deliver over 2,000 Outdoor Activity Days (OAD) in 2022 to support the campaign.

The OAD that contribute to HL4A will be identified, managed and promoted through our #itsgreatoutthere grants programme, delivered by grass roots outdoor activity providers throughout Europe, with the support of the coalition and our member organisations. Applications for the 2022 grants will open on 26th January.

Our Policy Officer Margo de Lange comments: 

Our team has been working closely with the European Commission since the foundation of the It’s Great Out There Coalition, to make sure that the promotion of outdoor participation is a core element of healthy lifestyle policy development in Europe. That work has been successful, but we need to keep building on it and demonstrate how time in nature can transform lives, especially for citizens who are experiencing it for the first time. “We aim to ensure that every single one of the 2,000 Outdoor Activity Days that contributes to HealthyLifestyle4All this year has a profound and positive impact on the individual who experiences it. Not only will that add a lot to this specific campaign, but it will also help us as we push for even more focus on promoting the outdoors through European policy development and delivery.

You can read the full details of our pledge:

Find out more about HL4A and how to get involved: