Originally published in Spanish on the +Actiu website

On May 22nd we started the Community of Practice with the first session focused on barriers and facilitators for physical activity in the urban environment of L’Hospitalet, specifically in the Florida-Les Planes area. Professionals from different fields and people from the community came together to identify factors that promote or hinder physical activity, especially from the perspective of people with chronic diseases. We thank the Urban Contour Foundation for providing the space and supporting this project.

We invite you to the next session on June 7, where we will continue the discussion through a tour of the neighbourhood and use the Healthy Cities Generator tool with architects Marta Rofin and Celia Garcia.

The meeting was very productive, with a friendly and participatory atmosphere. The session began with the presentation of the project by the principal investigator, Paula Jakszyn, from ICO-IDIBELL. Then, the workshop was led by Jordi Vilaró, Olga Canet and Elena Gimeno, from the research team of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Blanquerna (URL). The team organised the activity into four diverse groups that, through photographs, identified barriers and facilitators of physical activity in everyday life.

A video was presented showing a walking route along Avinguda Catalunya in L’Hospitalet, from Torrassa metro station to Florida.

After a break with refreshments, the teams continued the discussion, using photographs to point out which parts of the neighbourhood are barriers and which are facilitators.

The session concluded with a general discussion and the proposal of strategies to overcome barriers and enhance facilitators, which will be developed in the next workshop.

We thank the other members of the +ACTIU team, Celia García, Mireia Daura, Júlia Ollés and Mercedes Gil-Lespinard for their support in the activity.