The EU Project behind

What is the objective of SHE4AHA?

In January 2021, the European Commission launched a green paper on ageing, called “Fostering solidarity and responsibility between generations”. The purpose of this green paper is to establish a European policy debate on how to anticipate and find common solutions and new approaches, responding to the challenges that Europe faces in relation to the demographic change, and to accomplish the strategic goal of increasing the number of healthy living years within the European population.

The Green paper on ageing recognizes that what we learn and experience in early childhood affects us for the rest of our lives. Living a “healthy childhood” in general terms shapes our future prospect, health situation and well-being. We also know from research, that being obese as a child very often leads to obesity in adult life, and the green paper therefore advocates for interventions and activities, which can help to “laying the right foundation” early in life, preventing, limiting and postponing some of the challenges linked to ageing, and help the member states to fulfil the objective of adding more healthy life years to the life expectancy within the European population.

The green paper on ageing puts forward the following 3 questions:

- How can healthy and active ageing policies be promoted from an early age and throughout the life span for everyone?
- How can children and young people be better equipped for the prospect of a longer life expectancy?
- What kind of support can the EU provide to the Member States?

The partnership behind SHE4AHA represents the Schools for Health in Europe Network who has developed a manual, an assessment guide and a set of standards and indicators (all together called the SHE material) that policy makers, school management and teachers can use to make their school community “a health promoting school”.

The objective of SHE4AHA is to show that the Health Promoting School (HPS) framework can be used as a validated and evidence-based contribution to implement the Commissions’ green paper on ageing that calls for solutions to support healthy and active ageing from an early age.

The SHE4AHA project takes its starting point in the Health Promoting School (HPS) approach which is promoted Europe wide by the Schools for Health in Europe Network Foundation (SHE). HPSis an evidence-based approach that assist schools to become an inclusive setting for living, learning, and playing.

The SHE4AHA project involves 15 pilot schools around Europe. These schools receive training and coaching, assisting the schools to work with the HPS approach and become more active players in promoting children and young people’s health.

Along the project, this website will be developed continuously to contain inspiration material, such as training material, good practice stories and recommendations for other schools around Europe to learn and become motivated to work towards becoming a Health Promoting School.