Following on from studies focusing on the working of the state administration, the aim of this study is to conduct an empirical examination of the way in which one particular public policy — that concerning the dual social and sporting training of high-level athletes in France — is implemented. Because the aim is to respond as effectively as possible to the specifics of the problems encountered, it is on the local level that stakeholders have to come to an agreement and find common solutions built around coordination between departments. Through an analysis of the registers of action elaborated by the stakeholders in charge of this mission — the local civil servants of two Ministries (Sport on the one hand, National Education on the other) — the aim here is to see how they construct the rules of the collective action required to manage this dual project. This investigation was conducted through semi-directive interviews and reveals that the institutional positions and professional logic of each category of stakeholder create tensions within the partnership, that have a negative influence on the effectiveness of the way this dual project is organized.

The promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) has become a key objective in public health policy. Therefore, based on the national HEPA Policy Audit Tool Version 2 (HEPA PAT v2) of the World Health Organization, a tool was designed to support local governments in assessing HEPA policies. This study aims to describe the adaptation and testing of the HEPA policy analysis tool (CAPLA-Santé) at the local level in France. The work was conducted in three stages: (1) an intersectoral group of experts was constituted, and the group adapted each item of the HEPA PAT v2 tool to the local level; (2) a testing phase with seven local governments helped to collect data and feedback on the tool; and (3) a final workshop was organized to adjust and finalize the tool. The final version of CAPLA-Santé contains 21 items divided into six major sections: overview of HEPA stakeholders in the local government area, policy documents, policy contents, funding and political engagement, studies and measures relating to physical activity in the local government area, and progress achieved and future challenges. CAPLA-Santé allows the collection and in-depth analysis of local level policies to assess the progress in promoting HEPA and intersectoral collaboration as well as identifying successful policy levers and remaining challenges.

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International audienceIn France, the national ‘Sport, Health, and Well-being’ programme (Programme sport, santé, bien-être – PSSBE) aims to develop an active way of life in a country where physical inactivity is becoming increasingly prevalent. While its implementation is based on an inter-ministerial approach whereby responsibility is given to the local government personnel of the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Health, numerous studies have shown that the complexity of the State machine and the compartmentalisation of its departments may have a negative impact on the success of this process. In addition, due to recent State reforms, government agents are also faced with numerous changes which affect their working conditions. Based on the results of a survey conducted in a French region via semi-structured interviews held with the agents of these two ministerial bodies, we demonstrate that although the implementation of the PSSBE has helped to institutionalise the inter-ministerial partnership, it also exacerbates the difficulty caused by these reforms: that of reconciling the missions of territorial departments with the resources allocated to them. These observations reflect the risk that the work of the network built around sport and health issues may be brought to a standstill