The YoPA Project Team discuss the youth-led participatory research designed to tackle physical inactivity, non-communicable diseases, and health inequalities.
The growing crisis of physical inactivity among youth has become a global public health concern, disproportionately affecting those in the most vulnerable situations. As societies grapple with an epidemic of sedentary behaviour and related health inequalities, it is clear that traditional intervention models are not sufficiently addressing the complexity and diversity of young people’s lived realities. To make meaningful progress, we must adopt innovative, inclusive, and empowering approaches that recognise youth not only as the intended beneficiaries, but as active co-creators of change.
Rethinking physical activity interventions: Beyond WEIRD contexts
Much of the existing research and intervention development targeting physical activity has emerged from WEIRD – Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic – contexts. While valuable, this narrow focus risks overlooking the vast social, cultural, and environmental diversity that shapes young people’s experiences across the globe. It also limits the potential for scalable, equitable, and sustainable solutions.
The YoPA (Youth-centred Participatory Action) project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme, brings together ten partners to transform this landscape. YoPA stands as a pioneering example of how youth-led participatory action-research can drive both methodological innovation and real-world impact. By centring the voices and leadership of youth, especially those aged 12 to 18 living in vulnerable contexts, YoPA is breaking away from the dominant research paradigms to foster genuine inclusivity and diversity in health promotion.
The YoPA Model: Youth leading the way
YoPA’s core philosophy is to empower the youth to become co-researchers and change agents in their communities. This is achieved by embedding youth-led participatory action-research at the heart of the project’s design and delivery. Young participants are engaged from the outset, co-defining research questions, mapping challenges, and generating locally-relevant solutions for increasing physical activity.
This approach yields multiple benefits:
- Authentic engagement and ownership: By allowing,youth to shape the direction of research and intervention activities, YoPA cultivates deeper engagement and investment in creating positive change.
- Leadership and capacity building: Through structured mentoring, capacity-building workshops, and hands-on participation, young people develop critical leadership, problem-solving, and advocacy skills.
- Contextual relevance: Interventions generated within this framework are more attuned to the unique socio-cultural dynamics and barriers facing youth in diverse environments, from sprawling cities to underserved communities.
Global reach: Four cities, diverse contexts
To avoid the limitations of WEIRD-centric research, YoPA is being implemented across four distinctive cities on two continents: Aalborg (Denmark), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Osogbo (Nigeria), and Soweto (South Africa). Each site brings its own tapestry of cultural backgrounds, urban structures, and challenges. Some of the inspired methodologies have also begun to influence new initiatives in Lisbon (Portugal) and other European cities.
This diversity is critical for several reasons:
- It allows for the testing and refinement of participatory methods across vastly different settings.
- It ensures that the resulting toolkit and processes can be flexibly adapted for maximum impact, regardless of geography or resources.
- It reflects an unwavering commitment to equity by directly addressing the needs of communities often left out of mainstream intervention research.
By situating youth in the driver’s seat of health promotion – supported by local NGOs, municipalities, and academic partners – YoPA harnesses a powerful coalition for change.
Collaboration in action: Stakeholder engagement and co-creation
At the heart of YoPA’s early successes lies a robust network of stakeholders working in tandem with young people. From municipal governments to grassroots NGOs and academic experts, these collaborations have yielded new ideas that are now being put into practice in YoPA’s second phase.
This model underscores the value of shared ownership and mutual learning:
- Youth engage with key local players to identify opportunities for increasing physical activity and to address barriers specific to their communities.
- Solutions are implemented not in isolation, but through ongoing dialogue and iterative feedback with all actors in the system.
- The process fosters a culture of partnership, creating stronger and more resilient pathways for health promotion.
Methodological innovations: Realist Evaluation and SUPER-AIM
A key lesson from YoPA’s journey has been the importance of rigorous, adaptive evaluation. The complexity of participatory, systems-informed interventions demands methodological creativity and agility.
To this end, YoPA employs Realist Evaluation – a theory-driven methodology that examines not just whether an intervention works, but how, for whom, and under what circumstances. This approach provides a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms underpinning successful change, informing future design and scaling.
Alongside, YoPA is pioneering the SUPER-AIM framework – a new evaluation tool tailored to capture the unique processes, outcomes, and ripple effects generated by youth-led participatory action-research in diverse contexts. Together, these methodologies ensure a steady flow of actionable insights to refine YoPA’s interventions and amplify their impact.
Towards a global YoPA Toolbox
The knowledge, materials, and processes emerging from YoPA’s collaborative work are being consolidated into the YoPA Toolbox: a comprehensive resource designed to guide other cities and communities in adopting the YoPA way of working with youth. This toolbox will include:
- Practical guides for launching youth-led participatory action-research initiatives.
- Templates for stakeholder engagement strategies.
- Tools for participatory evaluation.
- Case studies and stories from each site.
By making these resources openly available, YoPA aims to seed a global movement – enabling more communities to leverage the dynamism and creativity of youth in addressing the inactivity epidemic.
A pathway to sustainable change
What distinguishes YoPA is the project’s unwavering belief in the transformative potential of young people. In treating youth as catalysts rather than bystanders, YoPA fosters not only healthier communities in the short-term but also equips a new generation of leaders committed to promoting wellbeing and equity for years to come.
As YoPA advances, we are learning that meaningful, sustainable change is rooted in trust, mutual respect, and the willingness to share power with those most directly impacted by the challenges we seek to solve.
Conclusion: The YoPA vision for the future
The world is at a crossroads regarding youth physical activity and health. Conventional approaches have not sufficiently moved the needle, especially among those most in need. By placing youth in the foreground – supported by rigorous research and genuine partnerships – YoPA offers a powerful model for tackling not just physical inactivity but the underlying inequalities that perpetuate it.
We invite stakeholders – policymakers, educators, practitioners, community organisations, and, above all, youth themselves – to join us in scaling this movement, sharing learning, and building healthier futures together.
This text was prepared by António L Palmeira, Leader of YoPA’s Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation Work Package, and was commented and reviewed by the YoPA leadership team.
Funded by the European Union under the Agreement #101095423. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 25th edition of our quarterly publication.
