Vanguard Project

Vanguard Project

VANGUARD represents the consortium for: Virtual Advice, Nurturing, Guidance on Universal Action, Research and Development for physical activity and sport engagement at the local, national and international level.


The VANGUARD Consortium is a collaborative partnership project between EU Universities, World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry representatives that leads on the implementation of the WHO Global Action Plan for Physical Activity (GAPPA) 2018-2030 and aligns with all four objectives of the WHO GAPPA 2018 report and contributes to the delivery of specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project also aligns and addresses existing EU Policies that aim to strengthen EU Cooperation of the promotion of healthier lifestyles, such as the “Tartu call for a healthy lifestyle”.

The project addresses the first aim of the ERASMUS+ Collaborative partnerships by implementing physical activity in the undergraduate curricula of medical schools and healthcare professional institutions, so that future frontline health practitioners can advise and support increased physical activity in the clinical setting to all patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), as well as in pregnancy and perioperatively. Physical activity is any movement of the human body and skeletal muscles that increases energy expenditure; exercise (and sport) on the other hand, is part of physical activity and is planned, structured and repetitive activity intended to improve or maintain physical fitness. The reason for targeting physical activity and the potential of sport participation (such as walking football and modified sports to suit the needs of NCD patients), is because it is identified as a WHO best-buy intervention to prevent ill health, manage and promote health and wellbeing especially within the most prevalent NCDs and other chronic conditions and NCDs (e.g. arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and mental health). At the same time, physical activity can significantly improve overall population health, the quality of life of patients with NCDs (in terms of immobility, disability and premature death) and reduce the cost for EU healthcare.

VANGUARD will enable the dialogue on WHO/EU policy at the country/University and student levels to be translated into healthcare led action to promote and protect equal opportunities to access physical activity and sport within the population and patient settings at the local, national and international level. This includes the University led promotion of The European Week of Sport for the benefits in health by the health sector.

The VANGUARD project is the next strategic, systematic stage on from a commission (public funding) in 2017-18 by Public Health England and Sport England, which successfully implemented physical activity modules and teaching approaches (identified as the #MovementForMovement resources) in the curricula of 12/16 medical schools in England. As such, the proposed VANGUARD methodology represents an existing, effective and sustainable approach for addressing current key EU societal challenges, particularly the lack of physical activity and enabling signposting to activity opportunities from the health sector. 

The University of Wolverhampton’s strategic plan 2016-21 has three pillars; Students First, Skills and Knowledge for Economic and Social Transformation, Significant Influence and Impact. Sub-aims incorporate; ‘creating outstanding learning opportunities informed by world-leading research and professional practice’ and ‘foster global knowledge exchange and collaboration’. These strongly relate to the objectives of the VANGUARD project and so the project is strategically aligned to the institution.

The University has approximately 23,000 students and 2,500 staff and operates across three main campus sites. Subject areas are based around four faculties: Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing and the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, is the largest faculty at the University of Wolverhampton with over 400 staff and 9,000 students and comprises the Institute of Education, the Institute of Health, the Institute of Community and Society and the Institute of Sport and Human Science.

The Institute of Sport and Human Sciences brings together the academic portfolio with student sports teams and world class facilities to provide a strategic lead for sport across the University. Students studying on sport courses are taught on the Walsall campus which is home to British Judo. Specialist teaching facilities at Walsall include physical activity and health, physiology, biomechanics and social science laboratories. Practical facilities include; fitness gyms, arenas, track, grass pitches, astroturf, games zones and a swimming pool. The WLV successfully attracts international students thanks to its excellent reputation and the quality of the courses offered. In 2018, WLV was awarded a Silver award as part of the Teaching Excellence Framework assessment. This award recognises that WLV delivers provision that is of high quality and consistently exceeds the rigorous national quality requirements for UK higher education, with most students achieving excellent outcomes.

The University is a centre of research excellence; with over a third of submissions to the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) graded as world-leading or internationally excellent. WLV has three Research Institutes and 18 Research Centres; the Research Centre for Sport, Exercise and Performance (RCSEP) is focused on a number of academic disciplines; Biomechanics, Physiology, Psychology and Sociology applied to the antecedents, consequences and correlates of behaviour, health and wellbeing.

In recent years, WLV has seen a significant upturn in transnational education partnerships and numbers are continuing to grow. Currently, WLV is involved in 14 Erasmus+ projects.

The University has a proven track record for successfully managing projects. It has a dedicated Project Support Office (PSO) and Project Finance Team (PFT) who work with grant holders to provide support for contract negotiations, partnership agreements, claim submissions, project and financial progress reporting, risk mitigation and audits. PSO also undertakes a Project Monitoring and Compliance function and ensures that document and data retention is compliant with University procedures and funders' requirements.

Portugal, University of Porto

University of Porto (UoP) Institute of Public Health (ISPUP) aims to create and disseminate high quality information and knowledge in the broad field of Public Health as well as to provide related services such as a pioneering Occupational health clinic in the University of Porto. ISPUP activities are performed in straight collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine which was established in 1911 on the site of the former Medical-Surgical School. The Faculty of Medicine is one of the founding schools of the UoP, along with the Faculty of Sciences. Currently attended by over a thousand students from various cycles of study,

Lithuania, University of Vilnius

The Vilnius University (VU), the largest Lithuanian scientific institution, has deservedly earned the status of a leader in science and research in Lithuania. European university traditions, academic freedom and diversity of opinions, the ability to deal with new challenges in the constantly changing world, and social responsibility are the fundamental values of the University. Established in 1579, the University comprises 12 faculties, 7 institutes, 2 university hospitals, 4 interfaculty centres of study and research, the oldest library in Lithuania (which includes a modern scientific communication and information centre, an astronomical observatory, a botanical garden, and the Church of the St. Johns. The student body of the University includes >21,000 students. Year after year listed by QS World University Rankings among the top four per cent of the best universities in the world, VU attracts the best and most talented secondary school graduates of the country.


Greece, University of Thessaly

The University of Thessaly (UTH) is a vibrant institution with an outstanding track record in EU and national research and educational programs (including Marie Curie instruments). It also demonstrates a strong presence in the academic ranking of universities due to the high impact research and scientific performance of the academic staff and its high-quality teaching programs. With >500 research & teaching staff, >12000 undergraduate and >1500 postgraduate students, the UTH is a leading university in South-East Europe in the areas of health and medical sciences, veterinary science, engineering and education.

Estonia, University of Tartu

The University of Tartu (UT) was founded in 1632. UT offers 195 research-based graduate and postgraduate degree programs and deals with both fundamental and applied research. 13 400 students (including 1000 foreign students) study in four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Medicine, Science and Technology, Social Sciences). UT Library contains 4,1 million items. UT belongs to the top 2% of the world’s best universities, ranking 314th in the QS World University Rankings 2017 and within the 301–350 range in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2017. UT is placed 3rd in the QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe and Central Asia (QS EECA University Rankings 2018).

France, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis

The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis - UNS (France) was officially instituted in October 23, 1965. UNS is a research-intensive university ranked in the AWRU, including 19% of foreign students and representing 131 nationalities. UNS is a multidisciplinary university which covers all fields of scientific knowledge. It is composed of 13 faculties or institutes (including a medical school and a sports sciences faculty) and 47 research labs with 1575 researchers, professors, associate professors and 1152 engineers, technicians and administrative staff. The experience of UNS in coordinating or participating to European projects is well established. UNS is involved as partner in Erasmus Mundus projects “Basileus”, “Averroes” and also manages as contractant the Erasmus Mundus Partnership project “EMMA” and an Erasmus Mundus Joint doctorate in Astrophysics.