Participating in outdoor sports in blue spaces is recognized to produce a range of significant social benefits. This case study empirically analyzes the social benefits associated with the School Nautical Activities project carried out in Viana do Castelo (Portugal) in school-age children and adolescents. It consisted of a 4 year program in which scholars took part in nautical activities (surfing, rowing, sailing, and canoeing) in blue spaces once a week during a semester as a part of their physical education course. The methods used for data collection were as follows: (1) a survey answered by 595 participants in the program and (2) five focus groups (FG): two FGs with participants (seven on each FG), two FGs with their parents (eight participants each), and one FG with the physical education teachers (five participants). Interviews were transcribed and qualitative analysis with NVivo software was developed. Results revealed clear evidence on the social benefits for school-age children and adolescents associated with participation in outdoor activities in blue spaces both in the overall health and in all the following analyzed categories: mental health and well-being, education, active citizenship, social behavior, and environmental awareness. More than 40% state that their overall health is much better now (13.4%) or somewhat better now (29.9%) due to their participation in the program. Thus, this article provides support for the anecdotal recognition of the benefits for school-age children and adolescents from participating in sports in the outdoors and especially in blue spaces.

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a systematic and flexible tool, which is advocated by the World Health Organisation as a method through which to consider the impact of policies on the health and well-being of a population, and the inequalities that may arise because of it. In 2018, the HIA support unit in Wales carried out a comprehensive and unique HIA on the impact of Brexit in Wales. The aims were to understand the differential impacts that Brexit would have on the health and well-being of the population and to provide evidence to inform decision makers across a range of public bodies. It followed a five-step process for HIA and utilised a wide range of evidence sources and health intelligence including both quantitative and qualitative evidence. This paper reflects on the process of carrying out the HIA and the methods used. It discusses the stages of the HIA, and shares the findings and reflections of implementation which will be beneficial to other HIA practitioners and policy makers. It does not concentrate on the findings of the HIA in detail, but focusses on what worked and any challenges encountered. It has been used to progress the practice of HIA in Wales and demonstrates the value of HIA as a method to inform and influence complex decisions.

Rurality has been frequently noted by researchers as pathways to understand human health in rural and remote areas. Current measures of rurality are mostly oriented to places, not individuals, and have not accounted for individual mobility, thus inappropriate for studying health and well-being at an individual level. This research proposed a new concept of individual-based rurality by integrating personal activity spaces. A feasible method was developed to quantify individuals\' rural experience using household travel surveys and geographic information systems (GIS). For illustration, the proposed method was applied to understand the well-being and social isolation among rural Latino immigrants, who had participated in a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study in North Florida, USA. The resulting individuals\' rurality indices were paired with their scores of well-being and social isolation to identify potential associations. The correlation analysis showed that the proposed rurality can be related to the social isolation, mental and physical well-being of individuals in different gender groups, and hence could be a suitable tool to investigate rural health issues.