As part of the Joint Programming Initiative on a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL), 28 research institutes from seven European countries and New Zealand combined their expertise to form the Policy Evaluation Network (PEN). PEN’s vision is to provide Europe with tools to identify, evaluate and benchmark policies designed to directly or indirectly address physical inactivity, unhealthy diets and sedentary behaviour while accounting for existing health inequities. PEN has now concluded its third year and although the last year has been challenging due to COVID-19 restrictions, the consortium has continued to work to deliver on the project objectives.

During 2021, PEN published the results of the first EU Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI). PEN scientists also adopted innovative online solutions to coordinate a global academic expert review and a within four PEN EU countries high-level policymaker review to develop the first Physical Activity Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI). Thus, PEN provided a comprehensive picture of public sector food policy status across the EU, and a tool for gathering similar data on physical activity policy status. In parallel, a set of Selected Instruments for Multilevel PoLicy and impact Evaluation (SIMPLE) modules were finalised for physical activity and diet. These modules can now be used to assist in standardising data collection on physical activity and diet in new surveillance systems. The systematic and regular use of SIMPLE and EPIs has the potential to provide Europe with a roadmap for improvement of public sector policies and actions for health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases, including obesity.

PEN made significant progress in improving the knowledge and capacity of its network. The potential use of various quasi-experimental methods and simulation models to address public health challenges like obesity prevention were applied and synthesized with the aim to combine approaches into a comprehensive solution for public health evaluation. Several meta-, systematic- and narrative-reviews were conducted on areas of interest to PEN, such as policy implementation determinants, frameworks for understanding policy implementation strategies, on the unintended or ‘knock-on’ effects of policy interventions on persons with low income, and on indicators of impact for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP). These reviews have been published and add significant new knowledge to the area of policy evaluation and benchmarking.

PEN has further developed collaborations with the H2020 projects CO-CREATE, STOP, and Joint Action Best-ReMaP. Over the last year, joint webinars and dissemination events have maximised the dissemination and impact of each individual project. Finally, as part of the PEN Early Career Network (PEN-ECN) a successful mentorship programme was set up, and a webinar series attracted attendees from all over the globe.

WP1

- Launch of Food-EPI reports in each partner country. Engagement with key stakeholders and policy makers, and extensive print and broadcast media coverage

- Over 70 academic experts from 20 countries, and 40 policymakers from four PEN countries engaged in an online consultation to advance PA-EPI development

- PA-EPI development work was disseminated through peer-review publication (N=1), online symposia at international conferences (N=3) and workshops (N=3)

WP2

- Provision of a final version of the SIMPLE modules accompanied by a guidance document on the PEN webpage, and scientific publication

- Development of a feasibility study of the individual level questionnaire items of two SIMPLE modules in the next Irish HBSC wave

WP3

- A set of methodological recommendations were delivered to improve impact evaluation through experimental methods, quasi-experimental methods on observational data, and simulation models

- The methodological dimensions were demonstrated through a series of applications, including nutrition labelling in France, the Catalunya soft drink tax, the Cycling May campaign in Gdansk, agricultural sugar price transmission in Italy, Vitamin D fortification in Europe

- WP3 organized two very successful workshops on methods for impact evaluation ( in Munich and Rimini in 2021, involving internationally recognized scholars as contributors, and gathering more than 150 attendants in total

WP4

- A meta-review of implementation determinants for policies promoting healthy diet and physically active lifestyle was accepted for publication in Implementation Sci

- A systematic review on frameworks for the implementation of policies promoting healthy diet and physically active lifestyle was accepted for publication in Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act

WP5

- A systems-based model of the local food environment for persons with a low income was developed and published

WP6

- In-depth case study results covering the PEN domains were published in scientific journals

WP7

- The PEN dissemination brochure/ factsheets have been drafted

- The final project symposium is being planned as a major event to take place in Brussel including a series of mini-symposia and workshops, with the contribution of the H2020 projects STOP and CO-CREATE and JA Best-ReMaP

- The PEN-ECN delivered a successful mentorship programme to facilitate the exchange of guidance, expertise and experiences between members of PEN

- The concept for a Special Issue (SI) including ca. 12 papers presenting final results of PEN was approved. The SI is planned to be published by Eur J Public Health over summer 2022 with the (working) title “Creating evidence for policy interventions to improve dietary behaviours and physical activity in Europe”