Photo: UISP, Italy.

MOVE Week 2015 stretched its wings this year – expanding both in timeframe and in scope.

In Europe, MOVE Week extended from 7-30 September to support the European Week of Sport, but many countries designated that 21-27 September would be the week MOVE Week would be in full swing. So did Latin America, where MOVE Week (Semana Muévela) was held for the first time in Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay, and the third edition of MOVE Brazil Week (Semana Move Brasil) started a day earlier.

Almost double the number of cities (1,809) in 38 European countries took part this year, hosting 5,429 events. Latin America added another 6,100 events to this tally (5,500 in Brazil alone) in 350 cities, engaging 1.5 million participants. Over 2,900 European MOVE Agents, volunteers organising community events, contributed actively to the success of MOVE Week 2015.

Danish MOVE Agent Nina Bay Rasmussen, from the Ollerup Academy of Physical Education, tells why MOVE Agents are important motivators in physical activity promotion:

“The main purpose of MOVE Week, besides moving, is to let people have fun. If they have fun and go home with a good experience, then there is a bigger chance that they will keep moving after MOVE Week.”

Read her full blog post here

Record participation in FlashMOVE

Over 6,500 dancers and passers-by promoted MOVE Week in the biggest FlashMOVE ever in 2015, doubling the number of participants from last year. Flash mobs popped up simultaneously in around 70 cities in 22 countries across Europe on 13 September – with this year’s choreographers (UFOLEP, USEP, FSGT, La Ligue de l'enseignement and Fédération Française Sports pour Tous) kicking off the celebrations in France on 12 September.

Check out the NowWeMOVE blog to see some of the highlights of MOVE Week and FlashMOVE, including a bride and groom crashing the flash mob outside the town hall in Sliven, Bulgaria, before their wedding.

Find out more about MOVE Week 2015 here