On the way to and from school (OWS): active mobility interventions for the promotion of physical activity and mental well-being in adolescents

This is a three-year project that will evaluate how active mobility programmes influence healthy lifestyles and mental well-being among secondary-school adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years. Specifically, the project will evaluate two existing active mobility to and from school interventions in Bogotá, Colombia: (i) Al colegio en bici (cycling) and (ii) Ciémpies Caminos Seguros (walking). Using the lessons learned from this location, the project will test how to implement a similar pilot intervention involving adolescents from disadvantaged urban communities in Maputo, Mozambique. A context where large shares of children and adolescents walk to and from school but there are no clear policies or programmes that see this active mobility as an opportunity to promote healthy lifestyles and mental well-being. This approach, best known as implementation research seeks to draw attention to the health impact of active mobility policies in different urban contexts in low and middle-income countries. The project is structured in four groups of activities that we call work packages. The first and second packages will focus on documenting active mobility 'to and from' school intervention in Bogotá and assessing their impact on health and well-being. The third package will focus on South-south knowledge exchange by co-creating a similar intervention for pilot implementation in Maputo. Finally, the fourth package will focus on building equitable collaborations across different stakeholders and disciplines to facilitate international dialogues and knowledge exchange and capacity building process between Bogotá and Maputo institutions, policy makers, implementation partners, and adolescents participating in the project. In the end, this project aims to inform policy with new thinking and evidence demonstrating that active mobility 'to and from' school interventions are an opportunity to promote healthy lifestyle practices, mental well-being and the reduction of common non-communicable disease risk factors among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.

The project focuses on healthy lifestyle practices such as walking and cycling regularly to and from school as catalysts for the reduction of risks of non-communicable diseases (NCD). In doing so, the project will adopt a life course approach to implementation research underpinned by principles of diversity, inclusive stakeholder participation, and health equity. Such an approach will be instrumental in highlighting the health impact of active mobility policies targeting this critical life stage in different urban contexts in low and middle-income countries.
The project focuses on two (2) contrasting case studies in different global regions (Africa and Latin America), to shed light on the complexities and opportunities of the implementation, adaptation, and scalability of active mobility interventions, and the applicability of such interventions in a different social, cultural, economic, and governance context. First, we will assess specific implementation outcomes of two novel existing AMTS interventions in Bogotá, Colombia: (i) Al colegio en bici (Cycling) and (ii) Ciempiés Caminos Seguros (Walking). Second, using innovative citizen science methods, we will assess the impact of cycling and walking interventions on physical activity and mental well-being outcomes. Third, we will test the feasibility of a pilot implementation of a similar active mobility intervention among adolescents in disadvantaged urban communities in low-income and low-resourced contexts in Maputo, Mozambique, where despite a large share of children and adolescents walking to school, there are no explicit policies or programmes to support such practices. Fourth, building on diverse research and implementation partnerships, the project will establish equitable collaborations across sectors for capacity building and facilitating an international dialogue and knowledge exchange around implementation research, policy adaptation and effectiveness, and the reduction of NCD risks.