During phase V we aim to:

“Build capacity to support sectors to embed health and health equity as a core element of corporate organizational and departmental culture with the delivery of effective action”.

Objective 1: provide learning environments and practical application for individuals, politicians and organisations to increase their understanding of the social determinants and distribution of health & well being; inequalities in health; impacts on population particularly early years and what is meant by health and health equity in all local policies

Objective 2: assist local policy makers and practitioners to redesign local policy to achieve health and health equity outcomes through the development and application of tools that prioritises health, early years, equity and well being

Objective 3: develop common core knowledge about each organisations/ departments business that will increase understanding of each other’s language; pressures and drivers within each and provides opportunities for promoting collaborative joint policy and actions to contribute to health and health equity

Objective 4: promote formal and informal communication channels between sectors and across agencies and departments at all levels to achieve greater engagement and sectoral participation in developing collaborative policies and actions for health and health equity.

Public Health Leadership for Health and Health Equity, Training Programme

The following series of events were delivered during 2010/ 2011:

• Health & Health equity in all local policies: reality or aspiration, 22 February 2010;
• Leadership for health equity: organisational change, 3 March 2010;

• Achieving Health equity: intersectoral action, 28 April 2010;
• Community planning for health, 12 May 2010;
• Community engagement: measuring effectiveness, 23 June 2010;
• Social marketing: an approach to tackling health inequalities, 29 September 2010;
• Health Spending versus health outcomes: do the benefits outweigh the cost?, 20 October  2010;

Capacity Building Needs Assessment

In April 2009 Belfast Healthy Cities commissioned an assessment that would provide information on the capacity building and organisational development needs of partner organisations to promote health and health equity.  The subsequent report outlined a number of recommendations which were taken forward and resulted in the development of cross sectoral training and guidance for politicians.

Healthy Urban Environments and Design Programme

The Healthy Urban Environments and Design programme Healthy Environments: Healthy Lives provided a unique opportunity to consider the social and health potential of planning and design. In particular, it provided an opportunity to consider how planning and design is linked to health equity, and how organisations can integrate health and health equity in all local policies.