European National Networks of Healthy Cities met in Prague. Czech Healthy Cities offered and also got many inspirations.

In mid-September (18-20 September 2017) the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic had the honour to host an international meeting of the WHO Healthy Cities Networks of the European Region. The event was held under the aegis of the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen and the WHO Country Office in Prague, and in cooperation with the UN Information Centre Prague and the City of Prague, which kindly provided the historic premises of the Old Town Hall. The meeting was attended by the Healthy Cities representatives – national coordinators and political representatives from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as from Russia, Turkey and Israel and the WHO collaborating Centre Baltic Region Healthy CIties.

Conducted mainly in the form of discussions and teamwork, the objective of the meeting was to frame visions of further development and to evaluate the international WHO Healthy City Programme, which will celebrate 30 years of existence in 2018 as an European initiative aimed at promoting health, sustainable development and the quality of life. The participants reflected on the responsibility of various national networks and mutual inspirations etc. An emphasis was placed on finding ways to implement the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while maintaining local specificities of the countries involved in the WHO Healthy City programme.

The Czech Republic can draw inspiration for example from Norwegian Healthy Cities which use actively (and not only) Instagram to engage the young generation. Conversely, the Irish model focuses on the priorities of the Health 2020 and the integration of these topics into the structures at regional and local level through a broad campaign. The French network came up with interesting inspirational ideas concerning communication and engagement of national and local politicians, and the assessment of economic benefits of cycling and walking regarding health (HEAT Tool). Currently, the network is dealing with the issue of green spaces and healthy urban development. Finland can also serve as a good example of active use of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) – assessing impacts of policies on health. On the other hand, health literacy is a priority issue for the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the participants highly valued experience from the Czech network regarding systemic integrated approaches to the quality of public administration, expert know-how, active cooperation with its wide membership base, and a number of tools provided by the Czech Healthy Cities National Network.

The network cooperation involved in the WHO European Healthy City Programme is based on close collaboration and sharing of good practices together with finding ways to implement health and sustainable development topics at local level. Therefore, Healthy Cities serve as a platform for fostering cooperation with other initiatives such as Smart, Resilient, Sustainable, Green Cities etc.

Photos from the event: www.zdravamesta.cz/nn-meeting-prague-2017.

Public Fora in Healthy Cities are successful both with the public and town halls

By September, forty-seven Healthy Cities public fora took place in 2017. The Healthy City Forum of Litomerice attracted the highest number of participants, including 200 citizens. By the end of this year, there will be sixteen more meetings like these held in towns, municipalities and regions of the Czech Republic.

A Healthy City public forum is a meeting where citizens identify the biggest challenges and potentials for development in a given municipality, and by voting, determine the 10P – ten priorities. The outcome is subsequently verified by a survey involving a wide range of citizens. At the forum, the attendees learn how the priorities identified at the forum of the previous year were tackled. The meeting with the public is attended not only by the representatives of local governments but also by the representatives of non-profit organizations, schools and other external experts. Young people are regular visitors to such public meetings. The themes and priorities selected at the youth table often get between the final ten priorities.

Youth and School Fora are also highly popular. This year they have been already held at 21 schools and three more are planned. During these fora, students and pupils discuss the development of their municipalities and schools. The outcomes of these public fora are presented, as in the case of “adult” fora, at the municipal or city councils which will address them further.

Additionally, Healthy Cities offer its members a service in the form of “emotional maps“ which are created during public fora.

A list of dates and venues where Public Fora take place can be found at www.ZdravaMesta.cz/forum a www.ZdravaMesta.cz/mladeforum. There can also be found information about 10P – ten priorities identified at a public forum in a given place, related strategic documents, contact details, as well as invitations to events.

The European Mobility Week took place: Healthy Cities, Towns and Regions joined this year too

The European Mobility Week - EMW (16. - 22. 9.), which has been held annually since 2002, is aimed at promoting safe and ecological means of transportation in cities and municipalities. This year too, Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic (www.ZdravaMesta.cz/etm), which were one of its first implementers in the Czech Republic, joined the campaign.

The campaign is an ideal opportunity to present alternatives of sustainable mobility to citizens, explain challenges faced by cities and municipalities in order to bring about changes in citizens´ behaviour, and to make progress towards creating a more sustainable transport strategy for Europe.

The European Mobility Week seeks to influence mobility and urban transport as well as improve the health and quality of life of citizens. It enables them to learn about the true role of urban streets, and to explore concrete solutions to urban issues such as air pollution. Local authorities are encouraged to use the European Mobility Week for testing new measures in the field of transport to gain feedback from residents. Moreover, it is an excellent opportunity for local entrepreneurs to discuss various aspects of mobility and air quality, and the possibility of testing new technologies, and to seek innovative solutions in order to reduce the use of cars, and thereby cut emissions.

More at mobilityweek.eu

In October, Healthy Cities will host the traditional Health Days campaign

The traditional Health Days campaign celebrating healthy lifestyles will take place mostly in the first half of October. The diversity of themes and the involvement of expert partners in various cities make it the biggest event aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles in the Czech Republic.

The primary goal of Health Days is to inform citizens in an intriguing way about how to look after their health properly, how to prevent health problems, as well as offer citizens activities which could improve their physical and mental well-being in the long-term.

During the Health Days event, citizens will have the opportunity of having their body values measured (body weight, blood pressure, blood sugar level etc.) for free in a number of cities and municipalities, or of undergoing further check-ups or getting free advice. The accompanying program is traditionally intended for all generations, including children and senior citizens.

Every year the town halls of Healthy Cities hold the campaign in cooperation with all partners concerned with the issue of health from all different perspectives (non-governmental non-profit organizations, health care centres, schools etc.).

A regularly updated list of activities of the towns and regions involved in the campaign is available at: www.ZdravaMesta.cz/dzd.