The Healthy Places Special Interest Group (SIG) has been established to provide a forum for information sharing, collaboration and advocacy on issues surrounding the natural and built environments, urbanisation, and sustainability, with a view to promoting and protecting health and wellbeing across the globe, in the context of the climate emergency and COVID-19 pandemic.
Overarching aim: To increase recognition of the inter-relationship between built and natural environments, inequalities, health and wellbeing, and the application of health considerations in the design and planning of the built environment.
Recent work
In October 2024, the Healthy Places SIG coordinated a response on behalf of FPH on the proposed approach to revising the National Planning Policy Framework to achieve sustainable growth in our planning system. This response focused particularly on the Promoting Healthy and Safe Communities Chapter. Read the consultation here.
In June 2023, the SIG coordinated a response on behalf of the FPH to the Environmental Outcomes Reports (EOR) consultation. The response advocated for population health to be included as a priority outcome in the revised version of the EOR following this consultation and can be found here.
Contact
The Healthy Places Special Interest Group is chaired by Helen Elsey, Charles Satow, Karen Horrocks, and Sally Cartwright. You can contact the Chairs at HealthyPlacesSIG@fph.org.uk.
The SIG reports to the Faculty's Health Improvement Committee.
Join the Healthy Places SIG
FPH members can join this SIG by logging into their FPH members’ portal account, selecting the ‘Committees/SIGs’ button and choosing the correct SIG. You will then be asked to provide a few details, following which your application will be automatically approved. Further details on FPH membership are available here.
Webinar recordings
Faculty members can visit the FPH Members Portal to watch webinar recordings.
Vision and aims
- Identify members of the wider public health force, elected members and other key decision makers and engage them to promote and develop understanding of the inter-relationship between the environment (built and natural) and health, wellbeing and inequities, with a view to create a shared vision of healthy and resilient cities/places, in line with the World Health Organization Healthy Cities approach.
- Strengthen recognition of the relationship between environment and health, and collaborate and advise on appropriate metrics to evaluate health and wellbeing and the impact of interventions in built and natural environments.
- Share best practice, knowledge, advice and guidance on approaches to developing and ensuring healthy built and natural environments.
- Advise on, and advocate for, a focus on healthy built and natural environments in local, regional and national policies and practice.
- Build skills and strengthen capacity within the wider public health workforce by delivering training and learning events
- Support and drive improvements in training on Healthy Places for public health registrars.
- Create a network of organisations, stakeholders and other SIGs to work collaboratively to support the Healthy Places agenda.
Workplan
