Age-friendly Cities - 1st International Conference

The First International Conference on Age-friendly Cities, jointly hosted by The WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities©, Ireland’s Age-Friendly Counties Programme and the International Federation on Ageing took place from 28-30 September 2011. The conference held in Dublin was attended by 400 delegates from across the world who came to learn and hear from experts and professionals on what they can do to improve their community for older people and to discuss how the Global Network can move forward.

Changing Places

Thousands of people need the Changing Places toilets that would help them to enjoy the day to day activities many of us take for granted. The Changing Places Consortium has launched its campaign on behalf of those people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their carers, as well as many other disabled people. They need Changing Places toilets with enough space and the right equipment, including a height adjustable changing bench and a hoist.

• Changing places website

Climate and Health Council

The Climate and Health Council is a network of health professionals informing and advocating on the health benefits of more sustainable lifestyles and the urgency of addressing climate change. The Climate and Health Council began in 2007, as a meeting of doctors, nurses and other health professionals recognising the urgency of addressing climate change to protect health.

• Climate and Health Council

“Crossing the Bridges” Project

The ‘Crossing Bridges’ project builds further on work undertaken in the 'Closing the Gap' (2004-2007) and 'DETERMINE' (2007-2010) projects, and aims to advance the implementation of Health in all Policies (HiAP) approaches in EU Member States. It will contribute to the development of practical tools that are required to turn HiAP theory into practice, and to make progress on the implementation of HiAP in Europe.

• “Crossing the Bridges” Project

EUROCARE (The European Alcohol Policy Alliance)

EUROCARE (The European Alcohol Policy Alliance) is an alliance of 48 public health organisations from 21 European countries dedicated to the prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm. Eurocare was formed in 1990 by 9 organisations concerned with the impact of the European Union on Alcohol Policy in Member States. It now has 48 member organisations across 21 countries in Europe, most of which are national or supranational umbrella organisations.

• Link to website

European Portal for Action on Health Inequalities

We are pleased to inform you that a new European Portal for Action on Health Inequalities was launched last week on www.health-inequalities.eu. This new platform is a significant source of information on health inequalities, both within and outside the European Union.

• European Portal for Action on Health Inequalities

Food Futures

Welcome to Food Futures Manchester - the strategy , partnership and programme of work aiming to improve food in the city of Manchester, now and for the future. Food Futures Manchester understands that improving food in Manchester, at a local level, is a challenging task and that the areas over which we have influence are limited.

Healthy Places

To support local areas in maximising the contribution of the planning system, the National Heart Forum has developed an interactive on-line ‘Healthy Places’ resource, funded by the Department of Health. Through easy-to-use explanations of legal issues, case studies and links to further guidance, the resource provides information and examples of how the planning system can be used by planning and health practitioners to promote and support healthy living.

• Healthy Places

Healthy Places, Healthy Lives

Healthy Places, Healthy Lives is a partnership programme which helps to reduce health inequalities and improve population health. Delivery of the programme enables the accelerated take up and learning from experience, best practice and improvement science to influence commissioners, providers, Health and Wellbeing Boards, and partners in the public sector, and meet the challenges of addressing health inequalities within their own environment.

Healthy Settings Unit

’s Healthy Settings Unit microsite.

Healthy Urban Development Unit

The Healthy Urban Development Unit (HUDU) aims to improve communication and cooperation between the spatial planning and health sectors in London.

• Healthy Urban Development Unit

iConnect

The iConnect study aims to measure and evaluate the changes in travel, physical activity and carbon emissions related to Sustrans' Connect2 programme, which is an ambitious UK-wide project that is transforming local travel in 79 communities by creating new crossings and bridges to overcome barriers such as busy roads, rivers and railways, giving people easier and healthier access to their schools, shops, parks and countryside.

Living Streets

Living Streets is a national charity that stands up for pedestrians, working to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets where people want to walk. They aim to influence decision makers and work with local people and professionals so that everyone is able to use and enjoy their streets. The charity also aims to give a voice to pedestrians, and involving people is central to what they do.

• Living Streets

Marmot Review

The website for the 2010 Marmot review: Fair Society, Healthy Lives.

• Marmot Review

PANacea

PANacea is an online network linking the global physical activity and nutrition community. PANacea is a communication tool between public health practitioners in order to improve quality of services, enable health initiatives to progress more quickly and with lower set up costs, support professional development through peer support and contributes to a stronger community that can respond to emerging challenges locally, nationally and globally. The site is maintained by the National Heart Forum.

• PANacea

Scottish Anti Poverty Review No.14, Winter 2011-12

Using assets to address poverty has come to the centre of the anti-poverty debate in Scotland. A focus on the potential and strengths of indivudals and communities has been welcomed by many. However, some have been concerned that the emphasis on assets can lead to a lack of focus on the structural causes of poverty and an increasing individualisation of solutions. This edition of the Scottish Anti-Poverty Review looks at both the potential and limitations of a focus on assets.

• Scottish Anti Poverty Review No.14, Winter 2011-12

Sustainable Food Cities

The Sustainable Food Cities Network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations that believe in the power of food as a vehicle for driving positive change and that are committed to promoting sustainable food for the benefit of people and the planet. The Network aims to help people and places to share challenges, explore practical solutions and develop best practice in all aspects of sustainable food.

• Link to website

Sustrans

Sustrans makes smarter travel choices possible, desirable and inevitable. They are a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. They work with families, communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people are able to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys, with better places and spaces to move through and live in.

• Sustrans

The Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN)

The Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN), formerly responsible for managing the Department of Health's (DH) Extra Care Housing capital programme, is the leading 'knowledge hub' for a growing network of housing, health and social care professionals in England involved in planning, commissioning, designing, funding, building and managing housing with care for older people.

• Link to website

The Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP)

The Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP) is a public health consortium with members drawn from research, policy and practice. It has been tasked with creating strategies to tackle Scotland's poor health record. The Collaboration is dedicated to identifying opportunities to develop novel public health interventions that will equitably address major health problems in Scotland.

• Link to website

Transition Network

A Transition Initiative (which could be a city, town, village, university or island) is a community-led response to the pressures of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and increasingly, economic contraction. Transition is one of the fastest growing social movements and Transition Network's role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as they self-organise around the transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions. The booklet Who we are and what we do by Rob Hopkins and Peter Lipman provides a brief introduction.

• Transition Network

Travel Actively

Travel Actively is a portfolio of 50 projects being delivered by the Active Travel Consortium: a partnership of leading walking, cycling and health organisations committed to providing opportunities for 1.8 million people to become more physically active through daily travel choices. Travel Actively projects have already provided opportunities for over 1.5 million people to become physically active through active travel and have generated a body of evidence showing how regular active travel can positively impact on health and well-being.

Travel Actively - Report

The latest report from Travel Actively is now available to read online.

UNICEF Child Friendly Cities

The CFC website provides information on how to build a Child Friendly City/Community; includes data on good practices and initiatives; gathers relevant publications and updates on current research.

• UNICEF Child Friendly Cities

Visible Voice

Visible Voice is an international network of researchers, community groups and activists with an interest in using visual media for collaborative research and community development. We make use of the transformative potential of participatory video and photography to research and support community actions aiming to improve the quality of everyday life, health and well being in partner communities.

WHO Europe Healthy Cities

The Healthy Cities pages of the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s website.

• WHO Europe Healthy Cities

WHO European Healthy Cities Network

These pages of the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s website provide information about the European Network of Healthy Cities.

• WHO European Healthy Cities Network

WHO European National Healthy Cities Networks

An overview of National Healthy Cities Network across Europe on the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s website.

• WHO European National Healthy Cities Networks

WHO Healthy Settings Web Portal

• WHO Healthy Settings Web Portal

WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments

The microsite of this Collaborating Centre, based in a department of planning and architecture, has been set up to support those interested in healthy urban planning. Visit it for support and resources in connection with town planning, transport, urban design and spatial planning.

WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities

The WHO Age-friendly Environments Programme is an international effort to address the environmental and social factors that contribute to active and healthy ageing. Through the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities, the Programme helps cities and communities become more supportive of older people by addressing their needs across eight dimensions: the built environment, transport, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication, and community support and health services.

• WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities

Food for Life Partnership

The Food for Life Partnership uses food as a way to improve the whole school experience – making lunchtimes a positive feature of the day and enriching classroom learning with farm visits and practical cooking and growing. Schools enrolled on the programme are growing their own food; organising trips to farms; sourcing food from local bakers, butchers and farmers; setting up school farmers’ markets; holding community food events; providing cooking and growing clubs for pupils and their families; and serving freshly prepared, locally sourced meals that follow a rigorous Food for Life Catering Mark.

• Food for Life