Ten principles for building health places

Posted on: 21 February 2014
By: mackene
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This report from the Urban Land Institute sets out ten important principles that can be used to create a new approach to building healthy communities.

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URBACT Pilot Projects: Joint kick-off meeting. Paris 29-31 January 2014

Posted on: 19 February 2014
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This is the first time that URBACT programme organised a joint kick-off meeting for newly selected projects. The event brought together more than 100 city representatives coming from 30 different cities spread over 15 EU countries. They represent the 6 transfer networks and 3 delivery networks recently selected. The Transfer Networks include:

TUTUR – Temporary use of public spaces as planning tool

Diet for Green Planet – Healthy and environmentally friendly food in public kitchens

Placemaking as Open Living Lab – Testing Place-making method with different target groups in different target areas

GeniUS:Open – Participative design and delivery of city services

Healthy Ageing – Raising awareness on demographic ageing & better response to citizens’ needs through more effective strategies and health

GastroUrbact – Gastronomy as tool for tourism and employment

The delivery networks include:

EVUE – Electric Vehicles for Urban Mobility

ESIMeC – Demand-led workforce development as main drivers for medium sized cities

ROMA-Net – Improved access to education, health, housing, services and to stimulate employment opportunities for working age Roma

The event aimed to allow participants to get familiar with the URBACT programme and its activities, receive applied training on specific tasks and take advantage of various social moments to foster informal networking. Presentations are available online.

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Improving the health of Londoners

Posted on: 18 February 2014
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Transport for London (TfL) has published its first health improvement action plan, in light of the growing recognition of the importance of transport and street environments in improving people’s health. The report outlines TfL’s immediate actions over the next three years to ensure that it delivers the health commitments of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. The report looks at how transport impacts on health in London and the policy context for improving health through the transport system; describes the main impacts of transport on health in London starting with physical activity, which has the biggest impact, then air quality, road traffic collisions, noise, access and severance. All of these health impacts are brought together to demonstrate how creating ‘healthy streets’ enables us to reduce potential harms to health while improving the positive impacts of travel on health.

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Work at height

Posted on: 12 February 2014
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As part of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge, the scheme by which outdated or over-complicated regulations are improved or abolished, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has overhauled its guidance for Working at Height to make it easier for employers and employees to understand what the law requires of them when working at height.

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City health check: How design can save lives and money

Posted on: 30 January 2014
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The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published new research exploring the link between the quality of public spaces and our health and wellbeing. It explores the important role that design can play in combating the most pressing public health problems of the 21 st Century whilst at the same time delivering savings for the NHS. The report looks at London and England’s eight Core Cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield), examining three major health problems and comparing the amount of green and public space available.

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Greening dementia: A literature review of the benefits and barriers facing individuals living with dementia in accessing the natural environment and local greenspace

Posted on: 12 December 2013
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In 2012 Natural England commissioned Dementia Adventure (a Community Interest Company which connects people living with dementia, with nature and a sense of adventure) to review the existing evidence of the benefits and barriers facing people living with dementia in accessing the natural environment and their local green space. The report will be used as the basis to develop a partnership project to address the barriers, enable more people living with dementia to enjoy the benefits of the natural environment and therefore advance policy and practice in Natural England’s Outdoors for All programme.

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The Global Wellness Tourism Economy

Posted on: 2 December 2013
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The Global Spa & Wellness Summit has commissioned this study to explore wellness tourism and understand its broad global impacts.

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Planning for healthier places

Posted on: 28 November 2013
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The Town and Country Planning Association has launched a new report to help local authorities seize the public health agenda and create healthier and happier places for people to live and work in, especially in areas of deprivation.

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Construction and civil engineering industries pledge

Posted on: 27 November 2013
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Almost 30 major contractors and clients have signed a Department of Health (DoH) pledge to improve construction workers’ health on and off site. The Construction and Civil Engineering Industries pledge, which is part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, aims to encourage companies in the industry to improve the health and wellbeing of their workers, and in turn, the image of construction as a whole.

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Public health and landscape:

Posted on: 15 November 2013
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The Landscape Institute has launched a position statement on landscape and public health. The publication of the position statement is just a first step in the landscape profession’s intention to work with public health professionals and with policy makers to create a larger number of healthy landscapes. The statement sets out the five principles of healthy places, and spells out in detail what each of those principles means and how to address them, and then uses a number of case studies to illustrate each principle in turn.

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