JOGG and the Department of Care of Flanders Exchange Best Practices on Healthy Environments for Children
On 22 September, Jordi van Opzeeland and Sytske Jelleman from JOGG, the Netherlands, visited the Department of Care of the Government of Flanders at the Belpaire Building in Brussels. The meeting followed an initial exchange during EUREGHA’s Annual General Assembly in Bilbao, held from 27 to 29 May 2026 and hosted by the Basque Country.
The Annual General Assembly provided an opportunity for EUREGHA members to share experiences and explore approaches to addressing regional health challenges. JOGG contributed to a workshop on community-based prevention, sharing its experience in promoting healthier environments for children and young people. The subsequent meeting in Brussels offered a further opportunity to build on this exchange and explore how these experiences could inform local health policies and practices.
Colleagues from several divisions of the Department of Care took part in the meeting, including Jolijn Van Gorp, Carolien Luypaert and Nathalie Stallaert from the Prevention and Early Detection Team; Murielle van Imschoot from the Poverty Reduction Team; Tineke Oosterlinck from the Local and Social Policy Team; and Fabian Dominguez and Marilo Robberechts from the International Policy Team.
During the meeting, Sytske and Jordi shared insights from JOGG’s 15 years of experience in creating healthier environments for children and young people. Discussions focused on the challenge of ensuring that every child grows up in a healthy environment and, in particular, on translating policies into concrete action at the local level.
A key takeaway was that individual initiatives, while valuable, are not sufficient to achieve lasting change. Sustainable progress requires strong organisational structures and a robust prevention framework that can embed health considerations into local policies, partnerships and everyday practices over the long term.
The presentation was followed by an engaging discussion on the JOGG approach and its potential to support the local implementation of policies promoting children’s health. Particular attention was given to the importance of collaboration among public authorities, local organisations and other stakeholders in creating environments that make healthy choices easier for children and young people.
The exchange offered both organisations an opportunity to share experiences, explore practical approaches and strengthen dialogue on community-based prevention. It also highlighted the value of connections between EUREGHA members in fostering knowledge exchange and supporting regional and local action towards healthier environments for children and young people.
related posts
