Green Cities, Healthy People. Planning Healthy Urban Spaces

The design and planning of our cities, public spaces and surrounding environments, whether suburban or rural, can affect our health and well-being. For example, in many cities around the world, according to the strength of the urban health inequalities, life expectancy can vary significantly from one neighborhood to another. Furthermore, access to natural places like public green spaces can be seen as an important catalyzer for health promotion. Similarly, the creation of supportive and healthy environments for health and well-being is one priority action of “Health 2020”, the new pan-European Public Health Strategy endorsed by European Ministries of Health and coordinated by the World Health Organization.

The meeting, corganized by B·Debate and the Centre for Research in Enviromental Epidemiology (CREAL), an ISGlobal alliance research center, aims  to promote a strong integration of scientific knowledge from the social, natural and medical sciences, and the know-how of professions, and the tacit knowledge of stakeholders and citizens. We also hope to receive validation from the delegates of a set of core indicators to assess the capacity of public green space to promote social interaction and physical activity at the municipal/city level.

This meeting is relevant to professionals in disciplines, including (but not exclusive) health professionals, land use and urban space planners, green public space management, municipal public administrators, scientists and NGOs.

The program includes an open lecture by Dr. Maria Neira, Head of the Department of Public Health and Environment of the World Health Organization (WHO), which will be entitled "Global Health Challenges in an Urbanizing World." The conference will take place on October 30 at 18 am at CosmoCaixa.

Free registration (until 29 October). Space limited