Physical activity and the environment: Successes and lessons learned from case studies in Europe

Sonja Kahlmeier holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Basel.

She worked for several years at the Department Environment and Health of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Basel. Besides other projects, she was responsible for the evaluation of the Swiss National Environment and Health Action Plan (NEHAP), a mandate of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.One of the topics of the NEHAP focuses on mobility and well-being, including the promotion of active travel, and another on housing environments and wellbeing.

She joined the WHO Regional Office for Europe in 2005 where she works in the Transport and Health unit, being responsible for an international collaborative project on health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA Europe) and for the activities regarding walking and cycling of the Pan-European Programme on Transport, Environment and Health (THE PEP).

She also works closely with the unit on non-communicable diseases and supported the preparations of the WHO European Conference on Counteracting Obesity, including a number of related publications on physical activity.