Healthy Urban Planning
Project Leaders: Dr. Geraint Ellis and Dr. Sue Morison
Although the majority of CEIPEs work involved healthcare professional students, projects were also developed which looked beyond these professions. The Healthy Urban Planning (HUP) programme was designed to bring together students from professions who may work together in a non clinical setting. Public Health Medicine - with its focus on population and community health issues - is one area where these two professions intersect.
A programme was developed for Medical and Environmental Planning students to learn together in small interprofessional groups to undertake a health impact assessment (HIA) of a new development in the local area. The students were expected to present their findings to an expert panel and were awarded certificates from the World Health Organisation.
The programme was developed in conjunction with Belfast Healthy Cities and their partners (including the City Council and Health Boards). Other groups making a contribution to the programme included experts from the University of Manchester's Centre for Excellence in Enquiry Based Learning and a national expert on HIA. The programme was launched in January 2007 with a focus on an HIA of a large-scale local road development. A second project involved conducting an HIA of waste management facilities in the Belfast Metropolitan area.
A description of the planning, implementation and evaluation of this programme was presented at the WHO Healthy Cities conference in Rennes in October 2007and it was recommended as a model for implementation by international institutions working in this area.
Resources
Teaching
Healthy Urban Planning: Waste Facilities and Health Study Guide 2008 (PDF, 640KB)
Publications
Ellis, G., Morison, S., & Purdy J. (2008) 'A New Concept of Interprofessional Education in Planning Programmes: Reflections on Healthy Urban Planning Project', Journal for Education in the Built Environment. Vol. 3,. No. 2. | View online
Conference Contributions
Ellis, G. (2008) 'Journeys into Interprofessional Education: the case of healthy urban planning' . Paper presented at CED lunchtime seminar series. Belfast, QUB. 13th February
Ellis, G. (2007) 'Healthy Urban Planning'. Paper presented at the WHO European Healthy Cities Networks Annual Business and Technical conference.
