European Public Health Association (EUPHA) and UK Society for Social Medicine: “7th European Public Health conference – Mind the gap: Reducing inequalities in health and health care“, Glasgow / Europäische Public Health Gesellschaft (EUPHA) und UK Society for Social Medicine: “7. Europäische Public Health Konferenz – Mind the gap: Reducing inequalities in health and health care, Glasgow (UK), 19–22 Nov 2014 [13-31]

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Workshop I.1: Health Technology Assessment and Health Impact Assessment – Two key examples of health assessment

Organised by: EUPHA section on Health impact assessment and (proposed) EUPHA section on Health technology assessment [14-2]. Key messages:

• While HIA and HTA already play important roles in many European countries, their potential still seems underrecognized and deserving closer scrutiny
• Both HIA and HTA would benefit from a ‘‘unified’’ perspective on assessment approaches, including commonalities, differences, and mutual learning opportunities.

Workshop presentations:

1. Introduction to and international trends in Health Impact Assessment through case study experiences. Salim Vohra, Public Health by Design, London, UK; Health Section, IAIA, Fargo, USA
2. Three approaches to quantitative health impact assessment in Copenhagen. Astrid Ledgaard Holm, H Bronnum-Hansen, F Diderichsen, Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, DK
3. Assessing health technologies through HTA: requisites, methods, challenges and perspectives. Chiara de Waure, F Kheiraoui, C Favaretti, W Ricciardi, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, IT
4. Bridging research and policy making: what do decision makers have and what do they want? Aileen Clarke, Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
5. Health assessments – Towards a more ‘‘unified’’ view. Rainer Fehr, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, DE; Dineke Zeegers Paget, EUPHA [14-6]. „Lessons: In many countries, HIA and/or HTA already play important roles for the protection and promotion of human health. The assessments (especially in a ‘‘unified’’ perspective) deserve closer attention in research projects, in the science – policy discussion, and in Public Health curricula.”

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Poster: Health in Impact Assessments – Opportunities & Challenges. Julia Nowacki, WHO Regional Office for Europe; Francesca Viliani, SOS International; Rainer Fehr, University of Bielefeld; Marco Martuzzi, WHO Regional Office for Europe [14-4]

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Presentation: Health foresight – A survey on quantifying tools. Odile Mekel, NRW Centre for Health (LZG.NRW), Bielefeld, DE; R Fehr, University of Bielefeld, DE; JP Mackenbach, Erasmus Medical Centre (EMC), Rotterdam, NL; F Hurley, Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Edinburgh, UK [14-7]

Discussion: “Interpretations of, and attitudes towards, tool evaluation differ and need to be explored further. Results of this current survey will be merged with existing knowledge, including from earlier workshops on impact quantification. In additional steps, two further groups are planned to be surveyed: (i) advanced HIA practitioners as key users of quantifying tools, and (ii) policymakers as primary target group for the information produced with these tools.”

Key messages:

• For quantitative health foresight and impact assessment, a diverse and valuable set of tools does exist; but most tools have emerged individually – and unnoticed by many potential users.
• If existing tool developments interacted more closely with each other and with potential users, this could booster health foresight as a contribution to health-supportive policy-making.

Junior research group “StadtLandschaft & Gesundheit” in the research program “City of the Future”, conference “Future health-promoting urban arenas” = 4th  conference “City of the Future”, supported by Fritz und Hildegard Berg‐Stiftung; Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF) Bielefeld / Juniorforschungsgruppe „StadtLandschaft & Gesundheit“ im Förderschwerpunkt „Stadt der Zukunft“, Fachtagung „Gesundheitsförderliche StadtLandschaften der Zukunft“ = 4. Fachtagung „Stadt der Zukunft“ der Fritz und Hildegard Berg‐Stiftung; Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF) Bielefeld, 3.-4.11.2014

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Beitrag (Fehr, McCall, Hornberg): „Das Querschnittsprojekt ‘Transdiszi’ zum disziplinären und sektoralen Brückenbau” [13-25]

Vorschläge zur Ausgestaltung der Initiative „Stadt der Zukunft“, u. a.: weitere Vernetzung der Forschungsarbeit sowie der durchführenden Konsortien; Praxispool transdisziplinärer Arbeitsbeispiele; transdisziplinärer Diskurs; Kontinuität innerhalb der Initiative, und Verstetigung darüber hinaus

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Die Zielsetzung der Tagungsreihe ist es, den international hochaktuellen Forschungsbereich Urban Health in Deutschland zu etablieren und auf nationaler Ebene einen Wissenschaft‐Praxis‐Dialog auf der Grundlage aktueller Forschungsergebnisse anzustoßen. Die Bielefelder Fachtagung zielte darauf ab, interdisziplinäre und praxisorientierte Ansätze zur gesunden, nachhaltigen Entwicklung urbaner Räume in Deutschland aufzuzeigen, mit Fokussierung auf folgende Aspekte:

• Gesundheitliche Bedeutung urbaner Grünräume (Stadtgrün / urban green spaces),
• Gesundheitliche Bedeutung urbaner Gewässerstrukturen (Stadtblau / urban blue spaces),
• Ansatzmöglichkeiten und innovative Wege für eine gesundheitsförderliche Stadtentwicklung (Urban Health),
• Transdisziplinäre Forschung.

Statements der Mitglieder des Programmbeirats der Berg‐Stiftung (Uwe Schneidewind, Stefan Zerbe, Rainer Fehr, Jörg Knieling) zum bisherigen Verlauf der Förderinitiative und zu neuen Perspektiven.

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• www.stadtlandschaft-und-gesundheit.de/cms/index.php?id=70
• http://ekvv.uni-bielefeld.de/blog/uniaktuell/entry/stadtentwicklung_f%C3%BCr_die_gesundheit

11th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH 2014), Crossing boundaries: Partnerships for Global Urban Health. 4-7 Mar 2014, Manchester, UK

International Society for Urban Health (ISUH); Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester University; National Health Service (NHS); Manchester Urban Collaboration on Health (MUCH)

Work Streams and Work Domains:

• Transdisciplinarity, incl.: Urban Health Metrics, Urban Planning and Architecture, Environmental Urban health, Healthy Cities, Transdisciplinarity in urban health
• Society, incl. Citizens’ Engagement / Engaging the Public in looking after health, Health Economics, Policymaking and political leadership for action on urban health / Governance
• Global Health and Humanitarian Risk, incl. Emergency Humanitarian Assistance, Global Health: Policy and Practice, Global Women’s Health, Urban Risk and Humanitarian Response: Stress and The City, Urban Risk and Humanitarian Response: Climate change and urban insecurities
• Health Opportunities, incl. Blood Borne Viruses in Urban Areas, Drug Users: Outcomes, Evidence and Policy, Stratified Medicine, Biomarkers and Population Health.

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Workshop „Building bridges across disciplines and sectors in European countries“

Rainer Fehr (coord.), Catalina Chamorro, Carlo Signorelli, Gérard Salem

Urban governance needs to react to multiple ongoing changes, e.g. climate / demographic / technological. Multiple scientific disciplines and societal sectors involved are strongly challenged regarding communication, prioritization of issues, and balancing of interests.

This is particularly true of urban health where the stakes are high, subtopics and actors are numerous, and evidence is sometimes ambiguous. To ensure an adequate place for health in the urban agenda requires comprehensive and persistent efforts.

The workshop aim, beyond mutual learning, is to identify common ground for potential joint future activities. The workshop provides examples of transdisciplinary approaches to urban health from various regions and countries, including the building of (procedural, instrumental etc.) bridges across disciplines and sectors:

• Promoting healthy places and cities. The experience of the Barcelona Provincial Council
• The professional and scientific interaction between medical doctors and architects. The 20-year experience at the Politecnico di Milano
• A systemic approach of urban health dynamics – Experiences from French as well as international urban health studies
• Initiative for promoting urban health in Germany [pdf file] [12-19].