Stewardship-based intervention: WP3 final report of the REsearch into POlicy to enhance Physical Activity (REPOPA) project.

This is the final report from Work Package (WP) 3 in the REsearch into POlicy to enhance Physical Activity (REPOPA) project of research funded by the European Commission (EC) FP7 program. WP3 builds on the experiences and initial indicators for evidence-informed policy making developed in REPOPA WP1(Aro et al., 2015). The aim was to investigate if the Stewardship approach - based on needs, context and stakeholder analysis, with the aim of strengthening the use of research evidence and other kinds of knowledge in close researcher-policy maker collaboration - increases the level of evidence-informed policy making in selected, real-world case studies. A particular focus point was testing of methods and techniques to identify and effectively engage specific stakeholders in the development of physical activity policy processes under investigation. The six selected policy case studies centred on Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) policies. Evidence-informed policy making in WP3 is understood as policy making informed by different sources of knowledge such as knowledge from research, knowledge from stakeholders, and knowledge of target groups' needs and values.