7.E. Skills building seminar: (Re)Forming cities due to the COVID challenge: Urban, Environmental & Public Mental Health outcomes
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-URB, EUPHA-PMH, EUPHA-ENV,   Chair persons: Jutta Lindert (EUPHA-PMH), Marija Jevtic (EUPHA-ENV)
Published: October 2021

According to the “Urban Health Rome Declaration” at European meeting “G7 Health” that defines the strategic aspects and actions to improve Urban, Environmental and Public Mental Health into the cities, and referring to the Agenda 2030 in which the 11th SDG argue about “Sustainable Cities and Communities. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, one of the most expressive syntheses of the challenging relationship between urban planning and Public Health is stated by WHO (2016): “Health is the precondition of urban sustainable development and the first priority for urban planners”. Referring to the Healthy Cities & Urban Health definitions, we can consider Public Health not merely an aspect of individual health protection and promotion, but a collective condition, strongly influenced by the environmental context and by the strategies implemented by local Governments. The “Health in All Policies” strategy, clearly underlines how health depend by the quality of outdoor and indoor living environments. In this scenario, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic is a strong reminder that urbanization has changed the way individuals and communities live, work, and interact, and that it's urgent to make the urban systems and local communities resilient, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases today and tomorrow. Certainly, the on-going urbanization is achieving an increasing attractiveness/appeal, considering that the urban population is expected to rise to the forecasted 70% by 2050 as stated by the UN Population Division Department. The increase in building density will be one of the main global trends, with significant impacts on Public Health and the increase in risk factors affecting the contemporary city, creating a gap between built and green environments, in terms of alarming living conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic is also an accelerator, revelator and amplifier of the on-going urban emergencies in terms of environmental sustainability and Urban Health, with particular reference to the social, environmental and digital issues. Aim of the skills building seminar titled “(re)FORMING CITIES DUE TO THE COVID CHALLENGE”, organized by the three EUPHA Section URB+MEN+ENV, it would like to be to build the capacity and knowledge between participants about the main topics and urban features capable to have relevant Public and Mental Health outcomes, with a specific focus about the COVID-19 pandemic period. For this purpose, after the three presentations, 30 minutes will be used to create a discussion with the audience, using digital systems (like MENTIMETER, SOCRATIVE, etc.) to collect opinions and create a live discussion about a specific set of questions and topics. The qualitative approach of the second part of this skills building seminar is opposed to the first part, in which the three presentations will share scientific-evidences and data; both approaches can be further summarized in the drafting of a Position Paper.

Key messages

The WP would build the capacity and knowledge between the audience about the main topics and urban features capable to have relevant ENV, URB & MEN outcomes, focusing the COVID-19 pandemic period. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the on-going urban emergencies in terms of sustainability, Urban and Public Mental Health, with particular reference to social, environmental and digital issues.