Healthy Cities, the WHO network promoting urban health, piloted a new training course for its coordinators in Turku on 19–21 September 2016. Participants also heard from the city’s leaders about Turku’s efforts to promote health.

Healthy Cities, the WHO network promoting urban health, piloted a new training course for its coordinators in Turku on 19–21 September 2016. Participants from across the WHO European Region joined the course, sharing knowledge and experiences in the fields of communication and leadership. Participants heard from the city’s leaders about Turku’s efforts to promote health. Site visits also ensured first-hand experience of some of the initiatives covered.

Coordinators discussed cross-city collaborative projects and campaigns, integrating the Sustainable Development Goals and Health 2020 into local plans and action, and strengthening leadership for public health.

“This course is important to learn from the successes of Healthy Cities over the past 28 years, and to build on this work, ensuring that the network continues to lead innovation in urban health in the WHO European Region,” said WHO Regional Focal Point for the European Healthy Cities Network, Monika Kosinska.

At its heart, the Healthy Cities movement is about creating the urban conditions that will allow all a city’s residents to live long and healthy lives and achieve their maximum potential

WHO Healthy Cities network was established in 1988 and continues to grow in both numbers and reach. The focus is to support cities in strengthening their efforts to bring key stakeholders together to harness leadership, innovation and governance for equity, health and well-being. The training course was therefore tailored to build capacity in these areas, with interactive sessions delivered by expert trainers.

Stronger links between cities

“This course is strengthening the ties between the cities and has pushed us to think strategically about enhancing our communication efforts and building our leadership skills. Coordinators are taking back not only new skills but also inspiration and enthusiasm for future innovation and networking,” said Joan Devlin, Coordinator of Belfast Healthy City and Head of the Healthy Cities Secretariat.

An address by Taru Koivisto, Director of the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, highlighted the importance of the WHO Healthy Cities Network for urban health. The Director underscored how the topics covered in the training course were crucial to building the network and to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at the city level.

The Baltic Region Healthy Cities Association is based in Turku

The Baltic Region Healthy Cities Association based in Turku, Finland, aims at increasing awareness of the local governments to take health as a central part in the decision making process in the cities belonging to the WHO Healthy Cities Networks.

This is achieved by facilitating and participating in projects, organizing training and seminars on topics associated with Healthy Cities core themes. Benchmarking between the network cities is promoted and new cities, networks and projects invited in the WHO related programmes.

Dr Agis Tsouros, Director of the Division of Policy and Governance for Health and Well-being at WHO European Office, says: “At its heart, the Healthy Cities movement is about creating the urban conditions that will allow all a city’s residents to live long and healthy lives and achieve their maximum potential”.

The Association’s role is to promote this ideology and facilitate the governance processes in the European Healthy Cities.

Source: WHO and The Baltic Region Healthy Cities Association