International partnerships
Participation in European consortia increases your impact. Discover our role as a design partner in international collaborations and European programs, where we actively expand our network and initiate new projects.
Be Active, Be Well
working together to boost youth physical activity
Be Active, Be Well is an international consortium dedicated to improving physical activity among young people, with special attention to mental health and equal access to opportunities. Together with partners from four countries, 8D is co-developing a playful and accessible intervention — created for and with young people and youth workers.
Objectives
1
Help make physical activity more appealing and accessible to youth, especially those with fewer opportunities
2
Support and train youth professionals to integrate physical activity naturally into their work
3
Raise awareness about the importance of regular physical activity for both physical and mental well-being
Why is promoting physical activity in youth so important?
Regular movement helps build a healthier body. But it’s also a powerful tool in supporting mental health, especially for young people facing challenges such as stress, anxiety or depression. Youth with limited access to sports facilities, financial resources or professional support are often the ones who stand to benefit most, yet they’re also the ones most likely to fall through the cracks.
Many young people want to be more active, but struggle with motivation, knowledge, or structure. Through interviews conducted across all partner countries (with both young people and youth workers) the project team identified common barriers. What stood out? Young people value autonomy, social connection, and flexibility. They want to move in their own way, at their own pace, and preferably with others. There’s also a strong need for insight into how motivation works, and more importantly: why it sometimes disappears.
Approach
8D is collaborating on this project with partners from Croatia (Sirius), Germany(YEPP Europe), Greece (Smile of the Child) and The Netherlands(@Change). In the research phase, we spoke with young people, youth workers and topic experts to explore both barriers and motivators to physical activity. These insights now form the foundation for a playful, motivating digital intervention
A Best Practices Guide outlining key motivational insights, challenges, and opportunities; An online platform that encourages young people to get moving, with playful elements and real-life inspiration; A Youth Guide and a Youth Worker Manual to support practical application; A Training Module for youth professionals to help them embed physical activity into their guidance sessions
Results
- Best Practices Guide published (November 2024), offering insight into motivation, mental health, and behavioural psychology
- Co-creation sessions with youth across all partner countries to identify key challenges and needs
- Design concepts developed for the platform and supporting tools
- Initial version of an engaging and inclusive movement-based intervention drafted and in production stage
Plans for the future
In 2025, the project partners will continue developing the platform and training tools together. Once completed, all materials will be freely available through the official project website — in each partner language and in English. Interested organisations are welcome to get in touch with Bas Altenburg (8D Games) or Anne Verlaek (@Change) to participate in the testing phase.
Be Active, Be Well is co-funded by Erasmus+ and is part of a broader European initiative to promote health, well-being and equal opportunities for all young people.
Research in the midst of society
Participatory research can solve three bottlenecks that researchers face: data collection, effective knowledge transfer and dissemination. Potential forms are game-based research and design-based research. We are happy to inspire you with examples from our portfolio.
Horizon Europe
What is Horizon Europe, and why are we involved? Learn more about the EU’s largest research programme and how our projects align with its thematic clusters.