During the past months, natural environments have become some of our most coveted spaces, offering benefits including reduced stress and depression and improved mental wellness—an area of health that is seeing great decline due to the pandemic. Local governments play a pivotal role in creating and sustaining natural places that improve health and well-being equitably, for all community members. That's why we're excited to announce the launch of our new Healthy Natural Environments Action Guide, featuring ideas and examples from communities across the province working to create healthy, equitable natural spaces.

In the wake of COVID-19, BC Healthy Communities has developed a series of resources to respond to local government concerns around food security. These Rapid Action Resources provide local governments with an understanding of  food security-related issues from an upstream perspective to support smart investment and decision-making. In the last month the first of these resources has launched, covering best practices around community food production. 

Join BCHC and a panel of community engagement experts on Wednesday, September 9 for a closer examination of power and its role in public engagement. Through this panel discussion format, we'll share strategies, tools, and resources that can be used in practice to ensure that your engagement efforts are equitable and empowering.

Across British Columbia, parks and green space in urban centres are facing pressure to accommodate a variety of uses amid growing populations and smaller private living quarters. However, green space is often unequally distributed and its benefits inequitably received. Vancouver’s new Parks and Recreation Services Master Plan—called VanPlay—prioritizes inclusion for residents who traditionally face the greatest barriers to accessing the health benefits natural environments provide. Read the story.

Each year, wildfire season presents a looming threat to communities across the province. For the Esk’etemc, a First Nations community near Williams Lake, a return to their traditional environmental and resource management practices has resulted in not only a sense of confidence in their community's ability to manage wildfires, but also in economic prosperity and a strengthened relationship to the land. Read the story.

The Neskonlith Indian Band is seeking to revitalize access to their land, improve community health and bring together a people displaced by colonialism. With the help of PlanH funding, the community is working toward an Indigenous Plant Stewardship Strategy, improving community health outcomes, enhancing eco-cultural restoration and connecting people to their culture and community. Read the story.

Port Coquitlam has announced formation of the city’s first ever anti-racism and discrimination group, a Roundtable on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The group will consist of 12 to 15 volunteer advisors from diverse groups within the community, providing input to staff and Council in order to improve access and inclusion. Read the announcement on the City of Port Coquitlam's website.

New Westminster is a city with a history of leading with progressive policies and plans, implementing a living wage policy in 2011 and a Community Poverty Reduction strategy in 2016. In recent years, the city has turned its attention to equity and has begun working on a social equity policy to help remove systemic barriers that community members face. In 2018, we wrote about the policy's development; in light of a renewed focus on equity in 2020, we're sharing the piece again. Read the story.

When we—local government staff, public health practitioners and planners—talk about equity, do we all mean the same thing? The Issue is a regular series by BC Healthy Communities staff that explores various public health and local government topics. This month, we look at equity as defined by the public health and planning disciplines, exploring where those disciplines converge and where they differ. Read more at BC Healthy Communities' website.

What is the importance—and the limits—of municipal action to improve health and reduce inequalities? This is one of the questions answered in a new five-part video series the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) featuring Evelyne de Leeuw, an expert in the Healthy Cities Approach. View the complete series on the NCCHPP's website.

For local governments across the province, COVID-19 has created a heightened focus on various aspects of food security, including issues around access, availability and use. The First Nations Health Authority's new resource, Planning for Food Security: A Toolkit for the COVID-19 Pandemic includes ideas, templates, tools and information to support food security planning for Indigenous local governments, as well as non-Indigenous local governments. Get the toolkit here.