WHO European Healthy Cities Network Summit of Mayors – Copenhagen 2018

On 12th – 13th February 2018 a major WHO European Healthy Cities Network Summit of Mayors took place. The event was hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, bringing together 43 mayors of European cities, alongside 85 high-level political representatives, advisors and civic representatives from all over the world. The National Network of Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic was represented as well.

The gathering was geared towards discussing the sustainability of cities, the role of health and citizens' quality of life with a strong emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Political representatives, experts and academics from the European Regions and beyond covered the following topics:

- health literacy
- mental health
- reducing ecological footprint
- food waste
- equal working opportunities or equal access to education
- affordable housing
- innovative green solutions for urban development
- tackling migration in towns and cities
- accessible, sustainable and affordable public transport
- healthy child nutrition etc.

The representatives of cities and towns from Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and other countries presented their achievements and good practice examples of various topics. The common denominator of the whole conference was the health of the population and the mechanisms to create favourable conditions for a happier life for all in cooperation with citizens living in cities. At the summit, the participants had the opportunity to attend two stimulating side events on migration and gender in the context of health and access to health care. At the conclusion of the summit, the Copenhagen Consensus of Mayors was jointly adopted by acclamation. The text is available here.

The underlying idea of the summit was the growing importance of mayors as major drivers of change exerting strong influence on urban live not only at local level, but also at national and international level where they can act as their voice. For more information, click here.

Another opportunity for partnerships at European level will be the WHO International Healthy Cities Conference Belfast held on 1st – 4th October 2018 aimed at evaluating and celebrating thirty years of the Healthy Cities Movement. For further information: https://www.healthycitiesbelfast2018.com/
Photo: WHO Twitter

Two innovative methodologies for culture planning were developed

Effective culture planning is not common practice in Czech cities. Strategic visions and goals often address other “more important” issues. Nevertheless, culture plays a very important role in the sustainable development of cities, towns and regions. In partnership with experts from culture field, Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic are striving to improve this situation. The outcomes of this endeavour are embodied in two innovative methodologies for culture planning, which is an unparalleled breakthrough in the Czech Republic.

The first methodology is focused on the evaluation of cultural organizations of towns and cities. The author Tereza Raabová (head of Culture Matters, member of the national expert team on sustainable development) tested this methodology as part of a pilot project in the CIty of Litomerice last year. The outcome is a user-friendly tool aimed at developing effectively cultural organizations of cities, defining their goals and evaluating results of their work.

• Methodology: Evaluation of cultural organizations established by cities (in Czech)

The second methodology deals with how culture is reflected in the “map”, or, more precisely, in the territorial planning documentation and GIS. The authors Olga Skochova (Kvas, OnPlan) and Petr Klapste (Nature Systems) suggest a solution in order to map cultural facilities in cities, transfer the outcomes of mapping to the existing information systems of cities and interconnect them with strategic planning. The methodology was tried and tested in City of Jihlava.

• Methodology: Mapping of cultural facilities of cities and its use in territorial planning (in Czech)
• Final report – pilot project and its outcomes in Jihlava (in Czech)

Recast “Manual for City Health Plan”

Health planning is an underestimated area in many cities of the Czech Republic. However, the experiences of European Healthy Cities suggest that citizens' health is one of the major themes for local politicians. It pays off to be aware of the main health challenges and risks concerning citizens in a particular region, to know how to tackle weaknesses and to have access to good practice examples.

In cooperation with our expert partners (National Health Promotion Network and Healthy Vysocina), the Czech National Network of Healthy Cities devised a new version of the manual for the preparation and management of conceptual health promotion - "City Health Plan". We are convinced that when the local approach of cities is in line with the Health 2020 document, it contributes to improving health literacy, which is one of the themes developed in partnership with Healthy Cities and the Health Literacy Institute.

On April 25th, 2018, an open seminar of Healthy Cities called "Health of the population – a theme for upcoming local elections" will be held on the premises of the Prague City Hall (the invitation will be published).

Our webinar presented two innovative approaches to culture planning

A special part of the Healthy Cities' webinar devoted exclusively to the theme of CULTURE took place on Friday 16 February 2018. Two innovative approaches to culture planning were presented. They embody a fresh product from the workshop of the representatives of Healthy Cities' expert team. Both approaches were pilot-tested in selected cities. This double webinar was intended for culture department in cities (or public officers from the field of strategic and territorial planning) and Healthy Cities coordinators and other parties of interest.

1. MAPPING OF CULTURAL FACILITIES IN THE CITY IN CONNECTION WITH THE PLANNING ANALYTICAL DOCUMENTATION (tested in Jihlava Healthy City)

• What is the significance of mapping culture in the region?
• How to transfer the outcomes of this mapping to existing information systems?
• Into which data layers of the planning analytical documentation can the data obtained be projected?
• How can we influence effectively further links of culture to strategic planning of the city?

2. EVALUATION OF THE CULTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY  (tested in Litomerice Healthy City)

• Why is it important to evaluate the activities of cultural organizations?
• What tools and methods can be used in this regard?
• To what extent is it useful to compare cultural organizations with others?
• For whom is the new culture evaluation methodology suitable?