The HEROES project receives funding from the European Union in the framework of the Public Health Programme.

Road safety is a health issue. With this project, we wanted to link road safety efforts with drug, alcohol and aids prevention.

Nowadays youngsters’ health is influenced by their day-to-day behaviour. Educative prevention and field actions have to be organized at many levels such as road safety, alcohol, drug and aids prevention because all those topics have an influence on young people’s health. To act on those fields, positive peer-to-peer communication has already shown its efficiency. The HEROES project is regrouping several associations using peer-to-peer communication on those four fields.

On 23 October 2007 the European Commission adopted a new Health Strategy, 'Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013'. Building on current work, this Strategy aims to provide, for the first time, an overarching strategic framework spanning core issues in health as well as health in all policies and global health issues. The Strategy aims to set clear objectives to guide future work on health at the European level, and to put in place an implementation mechanism to achieve those objectives, working in partnership with Member States.

The Strategy focuses on four principles and three strategic themes for improving health in the EU. The principles include taking a value-driven approach, recognizing the links between health and economic prosperity, integrating health in all policies, and strengthening the EU's voice in global health.

Associations as EU Member States have to work in partnership because youth health problem is similar in almost all Member States. The European Commission is aware of the importance of an integrated and global approach using already existing best practices, linking all health problems and combining experiences of experts in those fields on a European level.

http://ec.europa.eu/eahc

The social goal of the Responsible Young Drivers foundation, created in 1989, is to promote road safety among youngsters. The most important aim of the Responsible Young Divers is to draw young people’s attention to the importance of responsible driving and reduce the number of the accidents where young people are involved. The method: to insist on the need of modifying the driver’s behaviour. In the long run, a positive approach generates better results. RYD organizes all year long several actions around the theme road safety across the country. Those actions are taken in charge by our active volunteers aged 18-29 years to sensitize other young drivers about taking their responsibilities. To be efficient and being able to reach this target, Responsible Young Drivers uses several impressive and convincing tools during their activities such as the breathalyzer or the drug tests (in nightclubs, parties, festivals, …), the AlcoVision goggles (simulating the effects of alcohol and drugs on the vision), the Alcokart (simulating the effects of alcohol behind the wheel),… The particularity of Responsible Young Drivers is to create a single work done by “young people who want to convince other young people about the importance of a responsible behaviour behind the wheel. Each year, a HIV/AIDS prevention is organized on Valentines Day.

www.ryd.be

Avenir Santé has been founded in 1998. It is an organisation promoting health towards young people and prevention of the most risky behaviours. It deals with road safety, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and HIV/AIDS in a very global and positive approach by peer education: indeed volunteers are students from different curses especially trained, managed and evaluated by the professional team of Avenir Santé (eight health professional educators). Their actions target each year about 140.000 young French people through operations in schools, universities, in driving schools or during student parties on six French regions. Avenir Santé initiated the Valentines Day campaign “Say it with a condom”, which now exists in 5 countries and is the French partner in the "European Night without Accident" road safety project and in the “Module CLOSE TO” road safety project co-funded by DG Transport

www.avenir-sante.com

GARE is a non-profit organization, created in 2005, active in the fields of road safety and youngsters’ prevention in Évora but also across Portugal. GARE created a group of young volunteers aged 13 – 26 years old. GARE is the Portuguese partner in several European projects, such as the Valentines Day campaign or the European Night Without Accident. GARE organizes events related to road safety promotion such as the World Remembrance Day of Road Victims or the National Day of Courtesy behind the wheel, and develops prevention projects such as the We and Others and the Road Safety Education within the Citizenship Education module. They also participate to road safety seminars such as Road 25.

www.gare-apcsr.pt

The University of Nicosia (www.unic.ac.cy / www.intercollege.ac.cy) (UNic) is the largest private university in Cyprus with more than 3500 students. It is an independent, co-educational, equal opportunity institution of higher education, which offers a wide range of programs to students from around the world. The University offers undergraduate as well as graduate studies in business, science, education and the liberal arts. International in philosophy, the University hosts students from all over the world, in a multicultural learning environment, promoting friendship, cooperation and understanding. The University pursues excellence in education through research and high teaching standards, in a continually improving academic environment. Parallel to this the university plays a key role within society through consortiums alongside many civil society associations and government bodies for not only research related projects but also developmental projects.

www.unic.ac.cy

At the beginning of 2004, the KRZYS Foundation was established.
In 2004, the foundation decided to join the “Pan-European Designated Driver Campaign”, co-funded by the European Commission, under the name “KRZYS”. The Foundation joined the “European Night Without Accident, co-funded by the European Commission in 2005.
The foundation cooperates with: National Road Safety Council, National Police and with local traffic police forces, other NGO’s to promote a culture of road safety.

www.krzys.org.pl

Open Youth is a non-profit non-governmental volunteer organization, created and managed entirely by young people. Its aim is to support the formal, the informal and the vocational education of the youth; to use and disseminate the good practice in youth work and to fight the negative social phenomenon in the present society. Regarding the aim of the organization, the members of Open Youth are working in the areas of various activities as youth exchanges, Anti-AIDS campaigns, debates on important themes, roundtables, youth rights protection, voluntary service, seminars, conferences, publications. Through all these the organization is willing to promote the European values between its target groups – the young people, in order to prepare them better to their future role as citizens with more responsibilities towards the society. The members of Open Youth are always “open” for new ideas for enlarging the scope of its present activities in order to better fulfil its aim.

www.open-youth.org

The “Hellenic Research and Educational Institute “Panos Mylonas” for Road Safety, Prevention and Reduction of Traffic Accidents” – RSI Panos Mylonas – was established in 2005. The Institution is a non-profit Organization with the aim of preventing and reducing car accidents by undertaking, supporting and promoting activities or issues dealing with the study, research and dissemination, information and training related to road safety. The aim of the Greek Road Safety Institute Panos Mylonas is “not only to increase awareness and to raise the sensitivity of citizens, but also to mobilize all public and private Bodies into action in order to alter the statistics which make Greece ranking higher in fatalities in Europe with the largest number of death being victims of young age”. RSI Panos Mylonas has already achieved a considerable contribution in road safety and social matters in Greece under a continuous close collaboration with Public Authorities, Academic Institutions and the private sector.

www.ioas.gr

The social goal of the Responsible Young Drivers asbl, created in 2003, is to promote road safety among youngsters’ mind. RYD organizes all year long several actions around the theme road safety across the country. Those actions are taken in charge by our active volunteers aged 18-29 years to sensitize other young drivers about taking their responsibilities. To be efficient and being able to reach this target, Responsible Young Drivers uses several impressive and convincing tools during their activities such as the breathalyzer or the drug tests (in nightclubs, parties, festivals, …), the AlcoVision goggles (simulating the effects of alcohol and drugs on the vision), the Alcokart (simulating the effects of alcohol behind the wheel),… The particularity of Responsible Young Drivers is to create a single work done by “young people who want to convince other young people about the importance of a responsible behaviour behind the wheel. Each year, a HIV/AIDS prevention is organized on Valentines Day.

www.ryd.lu

SIDA STUDI is a non-profit organization based in Barcelona, committed to spread information on HIV & AIDS and to prevent its transmission. Its target population is mostly youth, teachers, researchers and other NGOs working in the field. SIDA STUDI is the most important documentation centre specialized on HIV/AIDS in Spain with more than 21.500 documents in all sorts of formats (leaflets, books, posters, magazines, CD, DVD,…). Its main activities are : sexuality and HIV prevention workshops, teachers training, individual assessment, condom distribution, prevention campaigns, exhibitions, confidential counselling, research projects, documentation services and on-line services on www.sidastudi.org. During last 8 years SIDA STUDI Prevention & Training Department has been implementing condom distribution campaigns and creating prevention messages and material. Under the project called Bars & Prevention, SIDA STUDI has reached around 100.000 youth every year, especially on night leisure areas.

www.sidastudi.org

The social goal of Stichting Responsible Young Drivers Nederland, created in 2006, is to promote road safety in young drivers’ mind. RYD organizes all year long several actions around the theme road safety across the country. Those actions are organized by youngsters aged 18-29 years to sensitize other young drivers about taking their responsibilities. To be efficient and being able to reach this target, Responsible Young Drivers uses several impressive and convincing tools during their activities such as the breathalyzer or the drug tests (in nightclubs, parties, festivals, …), the AlcoVision goggles (simulating the effects of alcohol and drugs on the vision), the Alcokart (simulating the effects of alcohol behind the wheel),… The start of the NGO is very successful: it already participates at 3 EU co-funded projects, in road safety and alcohol/drug use prevention.

www.ryd.nl

LASER EUROPE is a network of non-profit associations for the development of road safety by designing and producing innovative, attractive and motivating programs and events. LASER EUROPE is member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration. The main projects produced by LASER EUROPE are: the Global Road Safety Film Festival (United Nations – Geneva – 2006), the International Road Safety Film Festival (UNESCO – 2003), the Young Drivers Tour of Europe (1990 – 1992), the Young Drivers Tour de France (since 1994) and the Best Young European Motorcyclist Trophy.
The engineering programs implemented by LASER EUROPE are: job-creation programs funded by the European Social Fund, drafting and implementation of local road safety policies, audit of road safety policies, study and design of road safety areas, production of road-safety films and video documents.

www.lasereurope.org