DESERT

Rural areas, in particular, are often underfunded and chronically underserviced. After the COVID-19 pandemic exposed some of the difficulties that people living in these areas face daily, human services deserts have attracted more attention from the research community. Yet, there is more to be done to describe the extent of the problem in Europe. The DESERT project aims to identify, map and profile food and physical exercise deserts in three European countries; define, operationalize and test the concept of physical exercise desert; promote health and social equity in rural communities in Southern European countries; and explore strategies for multisectoral and intersectoral action for health and wellbeing in collaboration with local agents and stakeholders, to address the inequities that people living in underpopulated, underserviced, and often deprived, rural areas endure. Ultimately, we expect that the results from this collaboration will help to place the needs of those who live in food and physical exercise deserts at the forefront of the political agenda, attracting funding, services and infrastructure to these areas and, hence, reducing health inequities.