The Active Living by Design National Program

The Active Living by Design (ALbD) national program has created active living communities across the country. ALbD Community Partnerships have paved the way for a more physically active national culture.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) established the ALbD national program in 2001. In 2002, the ALbD national program initiated a national call for grant proposals. After reviewing over 900 proposals, the ALbD National Program Office and RWJF selected 25 communities to receive grants.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine has published a supplement devoted to the ALbD national program. The supplement presents stories of community change, highlighting ALbD communities that have embraced daily physical activity. This introductory article describes how 10 ALbD Partnerships illustrate each strategy in the ALbD community action model. The strategies of the ALbD community action model are the 5Ps: preparation, promotions, policy, programs and physical projects. ALbD partnerships employ an ecologic approach to public health interventions. Action taken to address one of the 5Ps reinforces a complementary strategy.

Key Findings:

  • Winnebago is a rural tribal village in eastern Nebraska. An ALbD Partnership, Waksik Wago (active people), in Winnebago, created The Big Voice, an online newsletter written for and by the youth of Winnebago.
  • The South Bronx Greenway Master Plan exemplified a successful physical project. An ALbD Partnership with Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) helped create two high-quality waterfront parks.

Active living incorporates physical activity into the routines of daily life. The starting point for active living is the RWJF’s ALbD grant. The goal of every ALbD Partnership is to create the environmental conditions that individuals require to make active living choices.

Active Living by Design featured in a Special Supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

  1. 1. The Active Living by Design National Program
  2. 2. Bike, Walk, and Wheel
  3. 3. Project U-Turn
  4. 4. Promoting and Developing a Trail Network Across Suburban, Rural, and Urban Communities
  5. 5. Building the Base
  6. 6. Leveraging Neighborhood-Scale Change for Policy and Program Reform in Buffalo, New York
  7. 7. Active Living Logan Square
  8. 8. ACTIVE Louisville
  9. 9. Slavic Village
  10. 10. Get Active Orlando
  11. 11. Active Seattle
  12. 12. Achieving Built-Environment and Active Living Goals Through Music City Moves
  13. 13. Partnership Moves Community Toward Complete Streets
  14. 14. Activate Omaha
  15. 15. From Partnership to Policy
  16. 16. Establishing Best Practices for Changing the Built Environment to Promote Physical Activity
  17. 17. Implications of Active Living by Design for Broad Adoption, Successful Implementation, and Long-Term Sustainability
  18. 18. Active Living by Design as a Political Project
  19. 19. Active Living by Design

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