Glossary of definitions
To help you navigate the database and understand what data we collect and why, we compiled a list of frequently used terms.
Comprehensive European Scan
An in-depth, systematic search for policies in 27 European countries, in line with scope of the CO-CREATE project: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.
Evaluated policies
Policy actions that are accompanied by independent policy evaluations, which assess its impact.
Global Scan
A worldwide policy scan conducted by monitoring and surveillance on a rolling basis. Policy actions are sourced and monitored from newsletters, listservs and research into key topics. We also source published evaluations of the policy’s impact.
Implemented policy
A policy that is currently in effect.
Recently added
Policy actions added to the databases within the last three months.
MOVING
A framework designed to be a comprehensive package of policies in areas where governments should take action to promote physical activity. The MOVING framework provides the structure by which the MOVING database is organised.
> What is the MOVING database? Download our 1-page explainer
NOURISHING
A framework designed to be a comprehensive package of policies in areas where governments should take action to promote healthy diets and reduce obesity and non-communicable diseases. The NOURISHING framework provides the structure by which the NOURISHING database is organised.
> What is the NOURISHING database? Download our 1-page explainer
Policy
The aims, objectives, targets, strategy, tactics, plans and action plans that guide the actions of a government.
Policy action
Any form of government action including, but not restricted to, legislation, regulation, decrees, standards, policies, programmes, guidelines, fiscal measures and government-supported voluntary programmes, action and campaigns. All policy actions are part of public policy, but not all policies are policy actions. For the purposes of the databases, plans and strategies are excluded.
Policy area
The main areas where governments need to prioritise action. There are ten policy areas for NOURISHING and six for MOVING.
Policy domain
An overarching strategic area where governments should take action, comprising policy areas and sub-policy areas.
Policy evaluation
A policy evaluation appraises a policy and assesses its impact. To be included in the database, it must fulfil the following criteria:
- process or impact evaluation of a policy that is contained in the NOURISHING or MOVING databases;
- published in English;
- available online (full text or abstract) – and both the reference and link to the evaluation are included in the relevant database;
- conducted by universities/research institutions, civil society organisations or governments; and
- of sufficiently high quality (eg using validated questionnaires, sufficient number of respondents, etc).
Sub-policy area
A specific aspect of policy within a policy area.
Topics
All policy actions are tagged with relevant topics such as Active travel, Cooking skills, Digital marketing, to help users find policies on a specific subject.
- For more information about the definitions we use, read our Methods Document and Technical Annex.