Healthy Communities and the Built Environment

OSGN is pleased to sit on the Steering Committee of the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition project: Healthy Communities and the Built Environment.

Other members of the steering committee include: Ontario Public Health Association, Ontario Inclusion Learning Network, Waterloo Region Public Health, Waterloo Region Healthy Communities, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.

The goal of the project is to build awareness of the impacts of the built environment on human health and work with planners, developers, public health, environment groups and associations to develop strategies that will improve the design of their communities from a health perspective. The project is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and involves several components, including a literature review, environmental scan, regional forums, community workshops and facilitation services.

Click here to access the literature review, which was done by Civics Research Cooperative.

Other resources related to Health Impacts of Sprawl:

Report on Public Health and Urban Sprawl, Ontario College of Family Physicians January 2005

Neighbourhood environments and resources for healthy living- A focus on diabetes in Toronto, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, November 2007

Active and Safe Routes to School

WalkON is a community partnership including local Heart Health projects, municipalities, and public Health Units. It promotes walkable communities by raising awareness and educating the public in: Halton Region, Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk, Niagara region, Waterloo, and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph

Healthy Communities, Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Communities Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Fall 2007