Regeneration can help improve health and equity – and healthy people are the heart of vibrant and sustainable places. Good data and indicators can maximise the potential for achieving shared benefits, by highlighting key issues at the outset and pinpointing areas for attention throughout the process.

Belfast Healthy Cities has published its contribution to an EU study into Building Healthy Communities. The discussion document, “Good for health, Good for Regeneration, Good for Belfast” seeks to identify effective ways of monitoring how regeneration affects health and equity.  It also highlights that healthy people are key to a stable economy.

Belfast Healthy Cities Chief Executive Joan Devlin said that this report fills a gap.

“Over the last decade Belfast has benefited significantly from regeneration and investment. What is less well  known is the impact regeneration has had in terms of tackling inequalities. This report sets out to fill that gap by identifying indicators which can be used to inform and monitor how regeneration affects people across population groups and their economic progress.”

This project was led by Belfast Healthy Cities in partnership with Belfast City Council and the EU URbact II programme. All Area Based Partnerships in Belfast were also engaged in the study. The innovative design was developed with Erica Ison, an internationally recognised expert in health impact assessment, who also authored the report.

Good for Regeneration, Good for Health Document	Good for Regeneration, Good for Health Checklists	Read the full event press release	Erica Ison Powerpoint Presentation

Belfast Healthy Cities has developed a new publication outlining the importance of travel planning in tackling health inequality. ‘Travel Plans: Improving Health’ details how effective travel planning can improve levels of physical activity and help tackle obesity, through promoting walking and cycling as a mode of travel, as well as encouraging greater use of public transport and reducing carbon emissions.

The publication is intended to support Health and Social Care organisations in developing healthy travel plans. It was launched at a seminar in Belfast which included inputs from Belfast Healthy Cities, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Travelwise NI and a keynote address from international travel planning expert, Leo Kosonen, who has developed a ‘three urban fabrics’ model for the Finnish city of Kuopio.

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KidsSquare was a three day event, organised by Belfast Healthy Cities in September 2011, at St Anne’s Square, Belfast. Starting on Culture Night and running throughout the weekend it was visited by more than 500 children and their families. Participants had the opportunity to build, create, shout, laugh, jump, run, and play through activities that included 3D modelling, junk art, creating cityscapes, obstacle courses and free play.

Thank you to everyone who came along and made the event so successful. If you have any comments about the event or would like to join the Belfast Healthy Cities mailing list please complete our short evaluation or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Baku, Azerbaijan 12–15 September 2011

53 member states attended the 61st session, of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, the governing body for the Region. Issues discussed included the new European policy for Health, Health 2020 and strategies for strengthening health systems in the WHO European Region.

Health and Environment Ministers Launch Belfast Healthy Cities Guide for Political Representatives

Belfast Healthy Cities was delighted that Health Minister Edwin Poots, MLA and Environment Minister Alex Attwood, MLA launched a guide for political representatives entitled “Tackling Inequalities and Promoting Wellbeing.” The Belfast Healthy Cities publication provides an essential overview of how council services impact on health and wellbeing. It also highlights the role of elected representatives in developing policy designed to tackle inequalities.

The third Annual Business and Technical Conference of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network and the Network of European National Healthy Cities Networks took place in Liege, Belgium on 15-18 June 2011. Belfast Healthy Cities, in its role as secretariat to the network, developed, with the Copenhagen office, the scientific programme, which included the facilitation and management of the abstract and case study process. A conference report will be available soon.

Belfast Healthy Cities is responsible for leading and facilitating the implementation of the World Health Organization healthy city requirements in Belfast. In 2009 we were invited to be Secretariat of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network which has created the requirement for this additional post.

This is a challenging and demanding post working at a senior strategic level within a partnership organisation. We are looking for someone with excellent leadership, management and monitoring skills, with the ability to be innovative and work with a range of organisations and at all levels, administratively and politically.

Programme Director

Full time, fixed term until December 2013 with a possible extension
NHS Agenda for Change, Band 8, Range A, pts 33-35(£38,851 – £41,772)

This post is open to secondment from other agencies.

The successful applicant must:

• be educated to third level or hold a relevant postgraduate qualification or demonstrate that they have held a post at an equivalent level for 3 years
• have held a senior management position for at least three years, during the last five years involving regular contact with senior public sector officers, civil servants, politicians, voluntary and community organisations and citizens
• have led and managed a small staff team within a change environment that demonstrates high impact, innovation, strategic thinking and positive results
• have extensive partnership and practical project management experience that demonstrates creativity and facilitating change
• have financial and budget experience at programme level

For further information and to apply, please refer to the following documents (Microsoft Word):

• Job Description
• Application Form
• Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

The closing date for receipt of applications is Monday 13 February 2012 at 5pm. All applications must returned by post or in person.

A major regional conference took place in Belfast on Thursday 10 March which addressed climate change and sustainable development.

The `Sustainable Communities Conference – Making the Global Local` was organised by Belfast Healthy Cities, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Department of Health, the Met Office, the Public Health Agency, the University of Ulster, Belfast City Council and Business Services Organisation.

In early January, Belfast Healthy Cities was invited to submit written evidence on the Planning Bill, for consideration by the Assembly Committee for the Environment during the Bill committee stage.

Councillor and High Sheriff Christopher Stalford with Ruth Fleming Belfast Healthy Cities

Belfast was delighted to be invited and attend the Global Forum on Urbanization and Health organised by World Health Organization and held in Kobe, Japan.  Mayors and government leaders from across the world discussed and debated urban health issues.

City Health Quarterly Newsletter - June 2010.  Active Places/Pre Election Health Briefing/How Living Conditions Can Improve Health/Danny Broderick Visit.

“The Hidden Cities: Addressing Equity in Health and Inclusiveness in Cities”

The second annual business meeting of the World Health Organisation European Healthy Cities network was held 17-19 June in Sandnes, Norway. 

Active lifestyles support health and wellbeing, and in particular help prevent obesity. Our daily living environment can help encourage physical activity, and mental wellbeing. This lecture explored how our daily living environment can encourage active living and healthy, socially inclusive communities and outlined some of the key challenges.

As the election approaches we have written to each of the local political parties setting out what we regard as our two key issues going forward:

Belfast Healthy Cities has launched a publication entitled “Healthy Places: Strong Foundations” to mark World Health Day which takes place today. (7th April). Belfast Healthy Cities wants to highlight that Belfast, as a leading WHO European Healthy City, should be asking questions like ‘How does the way we build our environment affect our wellbeing?’ and ‘Can our living conditions improve our health as well as our economy?’

The Health and Health Equity in All Local Policies lecture series event was launched in late February by Michael McGimpsey MLA, Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The first lecture focused on experience of a Health in All Policies approach in South Australia, which is broadly similar in population structure and size as Northern Ireland.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, UCL Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, international expert on inequalities in health and chair of the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, delivered Belfast Healthy Cities’ 21^st anniversary lecture on Thursday 8 October 2009 in the Great Hall, Queens University Belfast.

Climate Change and Health Group (2009-2013)

In November 2009, Belfast Healthy Cities established in partnership with the Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) a Climate Change and Health Group (CCHG) with the aim of identifying and addressing the health and health equity impacts of climate change.

WHO Secretariat

Having previously assisted the Copenhagen and Zagreb offices with preparations for the 2008 International Healthy Cities Conference in Zagreb, Croatia, the Belfast Healthy Cities office was officially announced as Secretariat for the European Healthy Cities Network in May 2009.