PlanH June eNews

The Evidence-based Approach to Building Healthy Communities

We can build the conditions that support the health and well-being of all British Columbians. These conditions for health begin right in our communities—where people live, work, learn, and play. Read what the data is saying in our Big Picture section. Or dive deep into the latest BC Community Health Data. Read on for the latest healthy community news and stories.

Community Grants for Local Governments in Island Health and Interior Health Regions: Deadline June 30th

Applications are being accepted for Active Communities grants from local governments and their partners in the Island Health and Interior Health regions. Grants of up to $30,000 are available to individual communities. Combined grants of up to $100,000 are available to communities that are working together for greater impact in their region. The deadline to apply is 12 noon PST June 30, 2017. Find more information about the grants here.

The Air We Share: the Cowichan Regional Airshed Roundtable uses evidence and shared leadership to address air quality.

The Cowichan Regional Air Shed Roundtable was formed to address the complex issue of air quality in a collaborative, systemic way. The partners knew that if they wanted to strengthen community ownership and implement the airshed strategy to grow their impact, they needed to move beyond the sharing information at meetings and collaborate differently. Read how they embarked on a collaborative leadership journey through the PlanH Growing Impact program, facilitated by BC Healthy Communities.

Happy Homes

A Toolkit for Building Sociability Through Multi-family Housing. The way we design multi-family housing can make or break social connections and trust. Evidence from areas in the psychology, neuroscience, and public health fields, as well as others, have been gathered to identify how design influences sociability in multi-family housing. Use this visual toolkit to identify evidence-based principles, strategies and actions to boost social connections in multi-family housing. Find it here.

BC Community Health Data

Find information about your community with these updated health data resources provided by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) - also listed on www.planh.ca.
Community Health Profiles provide a standard community health data set for the province.
The Community Health Database provides an interactive platform to explore health topics of interest.
The Community Health Atlas allows health indicators of interest to be mapped across the province of BC.

Presentation: The Economic and Social Wellbeing Co-Benefits of Healthy Built Environments

Victoria Barr, PlanH program manager, discusses the co-benefits of a healthy built environment on social well-being and economic viability in this video of the BC Centre for Disease Control’s Grand Rounds from the Spring of 2017.

Barr was joined by Charito Gailling, Project Manager with the Population & Public Health - BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), sharing updates to the Healthy Built Environment Linkages Toolkit.

Events

July 6-7 | Facing a Changing World Transformative Leadership & Practice Public Health Association of BC’s Summer School

July 14 | 19th Annual BC Food Systems Network Gathering
Cultivating Change: Building Our Food Movement UBC Farm

Sept. 20-23 | Different by Design, Exploring Innovation for Rural Prosperity CRRF Conference, Nelson BC

Find a full list of events on www.planh.ca/events

LEARN

Healthy Rural Communities Promising practices
These videos feature some promising practices in healthy rural community planning that are ongoing in the Province of Ontario and within Canada that are working towards building healthier rural communities. The videos are part of the Healthy Rural Communities Project. Watch the videos here.

CONNECT

Capital Regional District Community Mapping Project
This resource is designed to support health and wellbeing in the capital region by allowing users to see what community resources and affordable transportation options are nearby. Users can select the data that most interests them and then add transportation and community places on top. Find it here.

INNOVATE

Prescribing Active Travel for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet: A Toolkit for Health Professionals
Canadian Association for Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) has released a new toolkit to help health professionals become advocates of active transportation and transit with their patients and in their communities. Find it here.