In the framework of the European Week of Sport (EWoS) to be held during 23-20 September 2020, the “Healthy Employee, Mobile and Active” (HEMA) will be launching a pan-European  “Vital Companies Challenge”. The challenge aims at promoting active mobility and physical activity in the workplace, by engaging employees in a two-week competition. Supported and co-funded by the European Commission through Erasmus+ program, HEMA intends to tackle the high level of physical inactivity in Europe, by identifying the workplace as a key area for action and impact.

The Vital Companies Challenge is being developed by HEMA project partner, European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI), with the cooperation of Kinetic Analysis which specialises in capturing human motion data using next-generation sensors and customised measurement tools. The Vital Companies Challenge will be open to all companies and employees to promote and engage in physical activity and active mobility.

The challenge will take the format of a mobile application, which will seamlessly track activity from running, walking and cycling, during a two-week period, starting on the first day of the European Week of Sport 2020. The objective is to introduce and consolidate workplace activity among employees of any fitness level; e.g. taking stairs over elevators, walking meetings, walking and/or cycling to work etc. The application will track this information from widely used fitness apps available to both Android and iOS users.

More information on how to download and use the app to participate in the Vital Companies Challenge by the HEMA project will be available soon. Follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date @MobileHema.

The digital challenge is the latest activity of the HEMA project, being developed in parallel with a  state-of-art report on the current programmes available for promoting physical activity and active mobility at work in Europe, a survey targeted to employers and employees to identify major levers and brakes in providing and participating in such programmes, and a framework for pilot testing of such programmes over three months in Belgium, France and Latvia in 2021.

The survey is currently open and can be accessed through this link.

The COVID-19 pandemic already has, and will have unprecedented impact on the nature of work and workplace conduct, particularly regarding presence in the workplace and by extent the commute of employees in reaching the workplace. The need for the development of active mobility and physical activity has been highlighted by the COVID-19 health crisis. Everywhere people were encouraged to be physically active during lockdowns, and walk or cycle to their place of work to avoid overcrowding of public transport. The amplification of these trends needs further momentum to be made permanent. 

Led by the European Federation for Company Sport (EFCS), the HEMA project precisely aims at leveraging workplace programmes that combine sport, physical activity and active mobility, for improving levels of physical activity among European employees.