Council on the Environment and Physical Activity: Building evidence for active communities across the globe
Creators: name: Salvo, Deborah
name: Hinckson, Erica
name: Cerin, Ester
name: Sugiyama, Takemi
name: Schipperijn, Jasper
name: Jauregui, Alejandra
name: Oyeyemi, Adewale
name: Giles-Corti, Billie
name: Sallis, James
Publisher: name: The Health & Fitness Journal of Canada
Year: 2022

description: Purpose: We are conducting a 90-minute Satellite symposium to highlight the most recent work of the Council on the Environment and Physical Activity (CEPA), an official ISPAH council. This session will present updates on the activities, research products, and ongoing collaborative research projects which CEPA leads. Rationale: CEPA is an official and highly productive ISPAH council. CEPA supports investigators in conducting rigorous research on the environmental influences of physical activity, and the use of results to advocate for evidence-based environmental and policy changes to support and promote physical activity through the creation of active communities. The council is composed by a vibrant mix of physical activity researchers with expertise in public health, behavioral science, urban design, urban policy, transportation, planning, recreation, systems science, among other disciplines. CEPA has five objectives: a) to stimulate and support research on physical activity and the environment internationally, b) to increase communication and collaboration among researchers to develop new measures, adapt measures for local contexts, and organize networks focusing on specific population subgroups, geographic regions, and research questions, c) to encourage formation of interdisciplinary teams to conduct research, d) to encourage teams from different countries to conduct joint and pooled studies, and e) to support investigators and practitioners to become effective advocates for evidence-based environmental and policy change. CEPA operates through thematic working groups, including those focused on understanding the relation between the built environment and physical activity among specific age groups (children and adolescents workgroup; older adults workgroup); those centered on the role of different settings and systems on physical activity (green space workgroup, transportation workgroup); those designed to build cohesion and capacity for more and better built environment and physical activity research in world regions where the field remains nascent (Latin America working group; Africa workgroup); and one with focus on translation and dissemination of evidence into policy and action (policy workgroup). Format: The symposium will be chaired by Deborah Salvo, CEPA’s current Chair. Following a 5-minute overview of the purpose and history of CEPA by Deborah Salvo, each working group director will deliver 10- minute presentations outlining their most recent projects and products. This will include new methods and results of multi-country studies, systematic reviews involving authors from multiple countries and at multiple career stages, and an exciting new initiative to standardize city-level indicators from across the world to facilitate policy and practice work in this real. Working group leaders (symposium presenters) include: Erica Hinckson (childhood and adolescence), Ester Cerin (older adults), Takemi Sugiyama (transportation), Jasper Schipperijn (green spaces), Alejandra Jauregui (Latin America), Adewale Oyeyemi (Africa), and Billie Giles-Corti (policy). The session will close with a 15-minute open discussion, facilitated by James Sallis (founder of CEPA). Outcomes: Through this session, ISPAH 2020 attendees will be exposed to the latest, globally relevant findings on the role that environments play in shaping the physical activity patterns of populations. Additionally, this session will allow us to identify and encourage new members in becoming active contributors to the activities of CEPA, and the ISPAH mission and vision at large.
description: The Health &amp; Fitness Journal of Canada, Vol. 14 No. 3 (2021): Proceedings from the 8th International Society for Physical Activity and Health Congress