Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen micro-project
Supported by the European Regional Development Fund — Met steun van het Europees Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling
ERDF / EFRO: €50,000 — 100% of the total project budget
BIEN — Wellbeing and Nutrition for seniors is a cross-border micro-project funded through the Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen programme.
The project combines French and Flemish expertise to better support isolated and vulnerable older people, improve eating habits, and use food and cooking as tools for health and social connection.
View the official project page on Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen →
BIEN — Welzijn en Voeding voor senioren is een grensoverschrijdend microproject binnen Interreg Frankrijk-Wallonië-Vlaanderen.
BIEN combineert Franse en Vlaamse expertise om geïsoleerde en kwetsbare ouderen beter te bereiken, gezonde voedingsgewoonten te ondersteunen en voeding en koken in te zetten als hefboom voor gezondheid en sociaal contact.
Officiële projectfiche op Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen →
BIEN (BIen-Être et Nutrition pour seniors) grew out of a collaboration between the Vivons en Forme programme and Bruges Public Centre for Social Welfare. The project is funded through the European Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen programme.
Hauts-de-France and Flanders face common challenges: an ageing population, growing isolation among older people and urgent health issues including obesity and food insecurity. Unlike parts of southern Europe where families tend to live geographically closer together, many older residents in our diverse and multicultural regions live far from relatives. Traditional diets can contribute to high obesity rates, particularly among older adults for whom physical activity may become more difficult, while inflation and rising living costs also expose many seniors to food insecurity and limited access to healthy local products.
EN — Cooperation between FLVS and OCMW Brugge brings together two complementary areas of expertise: health prevention and behaviour change on one side, and peer support and community-based support for vulnerable older people on the other. Methods are shared, adapted and tested on both sides of the border to improve participation among the most isolated groups.
NL — De samenwerking tussen FLVS en OCMW Brugge brengt twee complementaire expertises samen: gezondheidspreventie en gedragsverandering enerzijds, en peer support en buurtgerichte ondersteuning van kwetsbare ouderen anderzijds. Methodieken worden over de grens gedeeld, aangepast en getest om de deelname van moeilijk bereikbare doelgroepen te versterken.
BIEN is a cross-border cooperation micro-project in which both partners combine their expertise to improve the reach and impact of social and health-promotion programmes and services. The cooperation addresses shared challenges by providing effective, adapted support for isolated and vulnerable older people, helping them improve eating habits and meet nutritional needs while using food and cooking as a means of social connection.
Both organisations have experience in supporting older people, but knowledge-sharing and cooperation are essential to refine a common and effective programme. BIEN therefore addresses two questions:
1) How can services and activities be made more attractive and accessible to the most vulnerable older people?
2) How can access, referral and participation in these projects and services be made easier for vulnerable residents?
VIF® has been running the ALISA nutrition programme for older people for several years. One of the main challenges faced by municipalities has been reaching particularly isolated and vulnerable seniors. A review of European best practices identified the City of Bruges and its “Wellbeing Ambassadors” programme for older people. The programme was designed to reach disadvantaged seniors and provide peer-to-peer health prevention. Conversely, while Bruges offers many food-related services and initiatives, it lacked solutions tailored specifically to older adults’ barriers, motivations and nutritional needs. A shared challenge, combined with complementary solutions, led to the development of BIEN.
Since its creation, the Vivons en Forme programme has worked to improve health behaviours, initially among children, particularly around nutrition, physical activity and wellbeing.
Its expertise in behaviour-change approaches, including social marketing, together with its experience in preventing obesity, overweight and social inequalities in health, is a major asset for the BIEN project.
Meet Brigitte, our senior ambassador
as part of the BIEN project.
De Nederlandstalige projectdocumenten en deliverables worden hier toegevoegd zodra de definitieve bestanden beschikbaar zijn.
Lead partner / Projectleider: Association FLVS — Fédérons Les Villes pour la Santé, home of the Vivons en Forme (VIF®) programme.
Partner: Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn Brugge (OCMW Brugge).
BIEN receives €50,000 in ERDF funding, representing 100% of the total micro-project budget.
