Vienna expands healthy neighbourhood business project

Vienna’s “Healthy Neighbourhood Businesses” project is expanding from the Stuwerviertel neighbourhood in Leopoldstadt to Stammersdorf, ORF reported. The pilot project by the Vienna Health Promotion agency aims to integrate health more closely into the working lives of small businesses.

The programme offers cooking workshops on healthy eating, seminars on healthy leadership and counselling on mental health. It also includes the free “Exercise to suit you” programme, held every Monday, as well as resilience and mindfulness sessions, individual business advice, funding for health-related ideas from businesses and regular online networking meetings.

The programme is intended to benefit more than the participating businesses. Customers and residents can also benefit through opportunities to meet and connect, helping make the neighbourhood a more liveable place. The Vienna Health Promotion agency said health was understood as something created collectively in a neighbourhood through services, relationships and cooperation.

The project has been running in the Stuwerviertel since May. It is funded through the regional health promotion fund, established by the social insurance system and the City of Vienna as part of health reform. The services are free for businesses.

Further expansions are planned next year to Atzgersdorf in Liesing and the area around Meiselmarkt in Penzing and Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus.