Professor Russ Jago

Keynote title: Adapting for context: Re-thinking school-based physical activity interventions

Bio: Russ Jago is Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health at the University of Bristol where he co-leads the Centre for Public Health in Bristol Medical School. He also leads the NIHR Public Health Intervention Response Team (PHIRST) Insight and co-leads the Diet and Physical Activity theme in the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and the Public Health theme in NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) West. He is the recipient of a UK Research and Innovation Frontier award for high risk, high reward research in the area of children’s physical activity and co-leads several physical activity and active travel projects.

Talk synopsis: School-based programs have shown only limited impacts on the physical activity of children. This relative lack of effect is in part because the programs are often too rigid and are not tailored to school specific contexts. Additionally, most evaluations use cluster randomized controlled trial designs, which may not effectively answer the broader range of questions needed to address meaningful population-level changes. In this talk, I will present the rationale and design for a new, flexible intervention model tailored to individual school contexts. I will also discuss some alternative evaluation approaches and challenges and highlight potential future directions for the field.

Sara Stace

Keynote title: Built for Movement: How Cities Shape Our Health

Bio: Sara Stace is a nationally recognised urban strategist with 30 years’ experience shaping healthier, more active communities. She has led transport and urban policy across all levels of government, including for Infrastructure Australia and Transport for NSW. Now Director at Vivendi Consulting, Sara integrates land use, transport and place-based strategies to improve walking and cycling outcomes across Australia and the Asia-Pacific. In her spare time, she is on the boards of Better Streets and the World Cycling Alliance.

Talk synopsis: How we design cities fundamentally shapes how we move. This keynote explores how land use planning and transport systems can create environments that enable more walking and cycling for everyday travel. Drawing on global and Australian evidence, Sara will show how factors like housing and employment density, street connectivity and access to local destinations influence physical activity levels. With walking strongly linked to better health outcomes, urban form is a powerful determinant of population health and wellbeing. The session will conclude with practical actions for policymakers, professionals and academics to embed active transport in their work—and create neighbourhoods and streets that support healthier lives.

Professor Patrick WC Lau

Keynote title: Making Early Childhood Physical Activity Everybody’s Business

Bio: Professor Patrick WC Lau is the Chair of the Department of Sports and Health Sciences, Associate Director of Wellness and Human Development, and was the Director of Centre for Olympic Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University. His research area covers the childhood obesity, exercise science and public health, and Olympism. Since 1998, Prof. Lau has published more than 250 research articles and conference papers in international referred journals and publishers in USA, UK, Europe, Australia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Prof. Lau is the Accredited Sport Psychologist of British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) since 2005, Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing since 2012, and the Fellow of the European College of Sport Science (FECSS) since 2019. He serves as editor or associate editor of 10 international referee journals. He has been invited to deliver 51 keynote presentations/invited lectures in overseas and Hong Kong universities/institutions. He has been appointed as advisor/consultant for 31 governmental and voluntary organizations. Since 2002, he has been invited as the journal reviewer for 35 international referred journals. He is also the host of radio (RTHK) and TV sports program related to Olympic Games and sport sciences.

Talk synopsis: Globally, young children fail to meet physical activity (PA) guidelines, increasing risks of obesity and motor delays. There is insufficient focus on fundamental movement skills (FMS) as the foundation for sustained PA engagement. Despite policies promoting daily PA in China, preschoolers face declining activity due to academic pressures, limited play spaces, and inadequate teacher training. Our studies show that FMS is negatively associated with weight status. Replacing light PA or sedentary behaviour with moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) enhances FMS. Short-burst activities mitigate resource gaps in Chinese settings. Future studies should integrate FMS into curricula, train educators in PA pedagogy, and investigate scalable interventions for diverse populations.