REPOPA is a 5-year project funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), involving six European countries (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Romania) and Canada as an internal evaluator. The objective is to study the relationship between scientific results and decision-making processes in the health sector and, specifically, in physical activity.

Recommendations and policies to promote physical activity have been developed in various countries and at the EU level. It is recognized that physical activity depends not only on individual factors and health sector interventions, but also on policies implemented in other sectors, as well as social, cultural, and environmental factors.

The research is multidisciplinary and based on the “health promotion” approach, aimed at fostering collaboration between researchers, experts, and policymakers and integrating knowledge, priorities, and values. The project begins with an initial mapping phase of several national and local case studies and concludes with the identification of best practices and the definition of guidelines, using participatory methodologies with representatives from politics, research, various professional fields, and citizens. In particular, the final phase of the project, led by IRPPS, led to the development and validation of a series of evidence-informed policymaking indicators through an international Delphi study, involving 76 researchers and policymakers from the 6 European countries in the project and international organizations. The indicators were then contextualized at the national level in each of the 6 countries through national conferences where participants identified strengths and weaknesses and associated them with different policy phases.

The study therefore has a strong operational and experimental component, utilizing methodologies such as document content analysis, interviews with public decision-makers and experts, case study analysis, and qualitative surveys, including various participatory methodologies.

The objectives of the REPOPA project are: