The research will focus on using a participatory approach in health promotion. The underlying assumption of the participatory approach is that the persons whose life or work is the subject of the research need to actively collaborate with academic researchers throughout the research process. This requires a power-sharing governance between academic and non-academic stakeholders and is believed to result in increased feelings of empowerment, mutual learning and innovative insights that are helpful in gaining an in-depth understanding of specific health promotion issues. Despite the increasing attention for this approach, there is currently a lack of participatory health promotion studies using a high-quality scientific design and methodology. Therefore, the research aims are  to develop, implement and evaluate health promoting interventions by using a participatory approach, and to elevate participatory research into a rigorous and evidence-based approach for health promotion.