About

The Club Health project


Nightlife plays a major role in modern life, being a critical aspect of youth recreation and a major source of employment, economic development and tourism for towns and cities. However, nightlife activities also create a wide range of health and social problems including alcohol and drug use, anti-social behaviour and crime. The development of safe nightlife environments is a growing priority throughout Europe, where town and city authorities must manage not only the recreational habits of their own youth, but also those from other countries as international tourism increases. Effectively managing nightlife settings is critical both in protecting the health of young people and reducing the burdens that night time anti-social behaviour can place on public services and society.
The “Club Health – Healthy and Safer Nightlife of Youth” project, with 20 associated and 15 collaborating partners from 15 EU Member States and Norway, supports the European Commission in its public health and other related strategies to reduce the social costs and harm associated with nightlife youth risk behaviours. The project aims to reduce diseases (especially addictions and sexually transmitted infections), accidents, injuries and violence among youth with a focus on specific environments of nightlife. The project aims to facilitate more consistent implementation of strategies and laws in the field of youth risk behaviour on the one hand, and increase sensitivity of media, advertising industry and politically relevant actors (e.g. policy and decision makers) on their responsibility for action on the other hand. The project builds on the work of the previous EC co-financed project “Recreational Culture as a Tool to Prevent Risk Behaviours”, and complements other EC co-financed projects in the field of youth risk behaviour.

 

 

 

The Club Health project is a three year project co-financed by the European Commission under the Health Programme 2008-2013 which started in April 2009.

 

The Club Health project is coordinated by the Institute for Research and Development “Utrip” from Slovenia.

 

Project description

 

(1) Implementation of strategies and legislation in selected countries

The Club Health project will examine the reality in implementing strategies and laws in the field of youth risk behaviour reduction which will be accomplished by European comparative study of strategies and laws in the field of youth risk behaviour in selected countries. This work package is coordinated by UTRIP (Slovenia).

(2) Database of legislative and national policy responses

The Club Health project will build up and launch an internet-based database of legislative and policy responses, evaluate, select and publish the database entries, and maintain and update the database. This work package is coordinated by UTRIP (Slovenia).

(3) Health and safety standards in nightlife

The Club Health project will prepare, test and disseminate the guidelines with selected health and safety standards. The project will evaluate these standards with recreational industry and promote the incorporation of these standards into legislation and licensing procedures for venues and events. This work package is coordinated by IREFREA España (Spain).

(4) Training of staff in nightlife premises

The Club Health project will develop a training concept for staff in discotheques and night clubs to identify and increase the knowledge to different risk situations, and produce a manual with the training concept. The project will work in partnership with different local partners and stakeholders in all participating countries. This work package is coordinated by IREFREA Portugal (Portugal).

(5) City criteria for healthy and safer nightlife

The Club Health project will create an accessible tool for town and city authorities to help them develop safer nightlife environments, in the form of guidelines, and develop a system through which towns and cities can be rated on their commitment to and progress in developing safer nightlife environments. The project will promote the development of safer nightlife environments throughout Europe by creating an award (certificate) that recognises the commitment and progress of cities and towns in providing safe nightlife environments. This work package is coordinated by Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom).

(6) Sensitization of professionals and politically relevant actors

The Club Health project will introduce delegates of the Club Health conference, workshops and seminar to the latest research and evidence in the field of youth risk behaviour and the project products. The project will enable the exchange and development of practical and policy measures to protect nightlife health, promote partnerships between academic and research institutions, health and social services, criminal justice agencies, local authorities, nightlife industries, the media, NGOs and the public. The project will develop networks for the international dissemination of research, evidence and practice.This work package is coordinated by Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom).

(7) Sensitization of media regarding their responsibility for healthy lifestyle of youth

The Club Health project will gather literature resources and field experiences from several EU Member States with regard to the impact of media on healthy lifestyle of youngsters. The project will edit a list of recommendations for crucial actors in the media related sector concerning their impact on healthy lifestyle of youngsters and enhance awareness on this issue through the organisation of a conference. This work package is coordinated by Hogeschool Gent (University College Ghent) (Belgium).

(8) Coordination of the project 

The Club Health project is coordinated by UTRIP (Slovenia), with the full endorsement and support of the Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom) as scientific coordinators and other work package leaders. The project has created the Club Health network which comprises all associated and collaborating partners and representatives of other relevant European Commission co-financed projects and related networks. The project coordinator will ensure that the project proceeds according to the project plan and timetable, work package objectives and deliverables, and take into account the milestones.

(9)  Dissemination of the project

Dissemination of the results of the project is coordinated by the Centre de Prévention des Toxicomanies (CePT) (Luxembourg). All partners will have a particular role to play in ensuring dissemination of the project’s outputs and deliverables at the country, regional and local levels. The dissemination will be guaranteed by the involvement of our project partners in the major European and international networks in these fields (IREFREA, AMPHORA, Alcohol Policy Network, Eurocare, Prevnet, ProSkills etc.). Based on the contacts and cooperation in these networks, products can also be disseminated in other institutions, regions and countries.

(10) Evaluation of the project

Evaluation of the project is coordinated by the Universität Koblenz-Landau (zepf) (Germany). The evaluation will be undertaken through analysis of meeting notes and minutes, review of the project deliverables, questionnaires and interviews with the project partners, assessment of country information and inventories through existing databases and by the partners of the project. The implementation of such a comprehensive project with a network of several partners needs a special kind of monitoring and evaluation concept to insure the quality and documentation of the results.