Building Healthy Communities On the Rock
Pablo Navarro's presentation will show how chronic disease provention can be approached through non-traditional collaborative action. His presentation, "Building Healthy Communities on the Rock" will look at how local organizations here in NL have created and sustained a unique collaborative that promotes and supports a healthier built environment in the province.
The Building Healthy Communities Collaborative (BHCC) wants to influence how our communities can positively evolve in healthy directions by bringing health considerations into planning and development in our communities. The group involves:
- applied health researchers,
- municipalities,
- municipal planners,
- environmental groups,
- partners in transportation, culture, recreation, education, public engagement, architecture, commerce, NGOs, public health and healthcare.
BHCC activities have included:
- a provincial conference held in 2011 that included knowledge exchange and non-traditional partnership-building workshops
- piloting online capacity-building sessions
- small demonstration projects at both the community and provincial level
- the development of research and recommendation papers for government.
The sustainable Building Healthy Communities Collaborative provides evidence for the impact of non-traditional partnerships that work for small changes at a policy or program level.
A Built Environment Recommendation Paper has been drafted for the Minister of Health & Community Services to support dialogue across government. The longterm vision is to ensure health is a consideration at all levels of planning.
Co-authors: Catherine Donovan, Associate Professor, Memorial University of NL; Mary Bishop, CBCL; Fay Matthews; Pablo Navarro, NLCAHLR; Carol Ann Cotter, Government of NL