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Concurrent Think Tank Sessions
NOTE: Many presentations are very large files and will take several minutes to download completely.
Building Access to Healthy Food
Facilitator: Sarah Wakefield,
Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Toronto
Presenters:
Overall Objective
Participants will generate policy solutions to address
the issue of inequitable access to healthy foods in their
communities through presentations and discussions
about regulatory instruments, successful land use plans,
and community-based strategies for addressing barriers.
Background Information
Improving access to fresh, healthy, and affordable
foods is an important step in promoting healthy diets
and positive health outcomes among people living in
Ontario. Food availability may be related to people’s food
purchasing decisions, diet qualities, income, mobility,
and overall health. In Ontario, as in Canada and the
United States, the picture of food access as it relates to
the built environment reveals inequitable availability of
healthy, nutritious food among communities. A greater
availability of less healthy food sources in lower-income
neighbourhoods has been well documented in Canadian
cities. The lack of access to healthy food in rural,
suburban and urban communities across Ontario, is
an issue that demands immediate attention.
Session Format
This session will focus on the impact of land use
planning decisions on access to healthy food sources
both in the rural and urban environment. Although it
is recognized that ‘access’ to healthy food depends on
many factors, this session will focus on how the built
environment influences the availability of healthy food.
In particular, we will:
- explore regulatory instruments, such as zoning, that
can be used to execute public health policies related to
food access in your community, and
- challenge the inequities in access to healthy food by
focusing on activities that can be carried out by public
health practitioners, planners and others to improve access.
The session will be supported by presentations on:
- the evidence linking health and access to healthy food;
- examples on how municipalities have used land use planning to increase access to food; and
- community-based strategies that have worked in breaking down the barriers to availability of healthy foods in the community.
Expected Outcomes
This session will encourage participants to not only
generate ideas about addressing food access as it
relates to the built environment, but will also provide
the knowledge, tools and contacts necessary to help
develop their own integrated, cross-sectoral policies in
their respective communities.
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Building Safe Communities for the Prevention of Injury and Violence
Facilitators: Doug Ironside, Public Health Nurse, Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit; Alison Macpherson, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science
Overall Objective
Participants will identify effective strategies for policy
change at the community level, focusing on aspects of the
built environment that will support the prevention of injury
and violence as it relates to healthy child development.
Background Information
In communities across Ontario, injury and violence result
in large economic costs and often catastrophic human
costs. For example, in 2004 injury cost the Ontario
economy a total of 6.8 billion dollars, and of that, $3.7
billion was spent on direct health care costs. Instead of
letting these numbers overwhelm us, this workshop will
help identify opportunities for improvement. By paying
attention to how we can change the way communities
are built, it will be possible to see significant and much
needed reductions of both the human and economic
burden of injury and violence in Ontario.
Session Format
During this session, participants will explore the
relationship between the built environment and injury
and violence prevention while engaging in discussions
to identify key policy solutions, implementation
strategies, and tools for evaluating and advocating for
change. Intentional and unintentional injuries will be
addressed in the specific area of Child Friendly Cities.
This workshop will address health inequities within
Ontario, specifically, safety challenges in communities
as they relate to children. In addition to public health
personnel and important government representatives,
this session will bring together urban planners,
community workers, advocacy agencies, and others.
Participants will learn how the social determinants
of health and community mapping can be utilized to
build effective public policy for changes to the built
environment at the community level. Participants will also
discuss the work that needs to be done to address the
issue of injury and violence among children in relation to
the built environment by identifying policy implications,
strategies for collaboration, obstacles to be overcome,
and next steps for communities to move forward.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will leave the workshop with knowledge,
tools and contacts to take back to their communities to
develop integrated, cross-sectoral policies in the area
of the built environment along with injury and violence
prevention with a focus on creating safe communities.
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Healthy & Sustainable Transportation Choices: From Vision to Reality
Facilitator: Paul Young, Consultant, Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition
Presenters:
- Brandon Sloan, Interim Manager, Long Range & Policy Planning, City of Kitchener — “Steps to Strides”: Strategies for creating walkable and transit supportive communities [PPS (view only), 25.8MB]
- Jeff Casello, Associate Professor of Transportation Planning and Engineering, University of Waterloo — Public Transportation and Public Health: from Planning to Implementation [PDF, 2.1MB]
- Eleanor McMahon, CEO and Founder, Share the Road Cycling Coalition
- Lorenzo Mele, TDM Coordinator - Town of Markham, Chair - Association for Commuter Transportation of Canada — Balancing the Transportation System: Policies that support sustainable mobility [PDF, 4MB]
Overall Objective
Participants will team up to identify key policies and actions
around which people from different disciplines can join
forces to promote healthier transportation choices, and
identify barriers that stymie efforts at true collaboration.
Background Information
There is growing consensus on the need to create a more
balanced transportation system that effectively supports
active transportation and public transit to produce social,
health, environmental and economic benefits for society.
The reality is that there are challenges, policy conflicts,
and obstacles that make it difficult to achieve this vision.
Session Format
This session will bring together land use planners, public
health staff, transportation planners, engineers and
community activists to discuss: the conditions needed to
create healthy and sustainable transportation options for
people in our communities; the obstacles that need to
be overcome; the lessons learned in communities where
progress is being made; and how and where we can
better collaborate across disciplines and fields to achieve
our common goals.
This 4-hour session will be split into three parts. It will
begin with presentations from a transit specialist, a
cycling advocate, a land use planner, and a transportation
demand management (TDM) practitioner on actions
needed to encourage a healthy and sustainable
transportation system, the obstacles and/or policy
conflicts that must be identified and overcome, and the
opportunities for partnership associated with the four
sub-themes:
- Steps to Strides: Strategies for Creating Walkable &
Transit-Supportive Communities
- Public Transit & Healthy Communities: Opportunities
& Challenges
- Share the Road: Creating Political Support for Cycling
Infrastructure
- Balancing the Transportation System: Policies that
Support Sustainable Transportation
It will include small group discussions on each of these
four sub-themes directed at the identification of pivotal
policies and/or actions around which people from
different fields can collaborate. It will end with a report
back to the larger group from each of the small groups
and a general discussion about where we go from here.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will leave the session with a greater understanding
of the diverse perspectives in the transportation field
and strategies that will help bring professionals together to
tackle the challenge of creating transportation systems that
encourage active travel and the use of public transit.
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Healthy Housing Environments: Access, Equity and Quality
Facilitator: Glenn Pothier, President, GLPi
Presenters:
Overall Objective
Participants will explore the interconnections between
social inequities and indoor environmental health and
engage in solution-based, facilitated discussions to
identify policy gaps, opportunities, and key partnerships
for addressing indoor environmental health issues.
Background Information
Access to affordable housing is a key determinant
of health, at the individual, family and community
levels. In addition to providing shelter, security and a
stable foundation for daily life, housing must also be
constructed and maintained in such a way that it does
not pose a health threat. Unfortunately, this is too often
not the case, particularly for people living in poverty
and for vulnerable sub-populations, including children,
the elderly and people with environmental sensitivities.
Lead from deteriorating paint in older dwellings, offgassing
of toxic fumes from flooring, surface coatings,
adhesives and furnishings, asbestos that has not been
adequately sealed off, moulds arising from poorly
maintained plumbing and/or improper moisture control,
heavy pesticide use to combat pest problems that are
related to poor building maintenance, and inadequate
ventilation are among the environmental health hazards
that can cause and/or exacerbate health problems and
contribute to social and health inequities.
Session Format
This session will explore the interconnections between
social inequities and indoor environmental health. It will
bring together people who are working to increase access
to affordable housing with those who are working to
reduce environmental health risks in the built environment.
It will also engage those who are involved in building and/
or retrofitting low-income housing as well as landlords,
tenant advocates and others. This session will encompass a
range of perspectives including: public health practitioners
(including inspectors), property owners, housing
professionals, planners, social services and child care
providers. These perspectives will allow for open, engaged
and solution-based discussions.
Facilitated roundtable discussions will be preceded by
thought-provoking presentations on the following topics:
- Risks to lifelong health associated with contaminants
(such as radon, lead, mould) in the indoor
environment – state of the evidence;
- Healthy, affordable and adequate housing – local
research can spark local action. Health care providers
and community partners collaborate around the
common goal of awareness raising and advocacy at
the community, organizational and government levels
on housing issues and their impact on the health of
children, youth and their families;
- CMHC’s EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing
Demonstration Initiative represents a fundamental
change in the way Canadians think about their
homes. An EQuilibrium™ home is designed to address
occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency and
renewable energy production, resource conservation,
reduced environmental impact and affordability.
Expected Outcomes
The focus will be on identifying policy gaps and
opportunities and exploring possible ways in which
environmental health protection and affordable housing
efforts can be made more mutually reinforcing.
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Improving Access to Recreation in the Built Environment
Facilitator: Carol Oitment, Policy Adviser, Recreation, Sport and Recreation Unit, Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport
Presenters:
- Geoff Cape, Executive Director, Evergreen
- Diane English, Communications & Public Policy, Parks and Recreation Ontario — (morning) Affordable Access to Recreation: Building a Framework for Success [PDF, 1.2MB]; (afternoon) Promising Practices [PDF, 254kb]
- David Leinster, Partner, The Planning Partnership
- Cam Collyer, National Program Director, Evergreen
Overall Objective
Participants will develop concrete policy recommendations
and a framework for action to improve access to
recreation across Ontario.
Background Information
Despite the fact that the benefits of recreation are
embraced and well documented, not everyone in Ontario
has equal access to recreation opportunities. Improving
health through physical activity could significantly reduce
health care costs as recent estimates of the cost of health
care spending related to physical inactivity range from
$2.1 billion to $5.3 billion, representing as much as 4.8% of
total health care costs1. Given the benefits of recreation
to individuals and society as a whole, the importance of
improving access to structured (e.g. team sports, lessons,
etc.) and unstructured (e.g. walking trails, bike paths, etc.)
recreation opportunities in the built environment is a policy
issue that warrants further consideration and exploration.
Session Format
This session will focus on the issue of access to recreation
in the built environment. Specifically, the session
will begin with a brief overview of the importance
of access to recreation and the barriers to accessing
recreation. Following the introduction, a panel of experts
from a variety of disciplines (e.g. planning, health,
recreation, policy, etc.) will share their knowledge and
opinions on the issue of improving access to recreation
in the built environment. After the panel discussion,
work group participants will be invited to engage in a
facilitated, lively discussion about the issue and necessary
actions to tackle the issue.
After lunch, a presentation will showcase innovative and
promising practices related to improving access to both
structured and unstructured recreation opportunities in the
built environment. Examples of promising practices regarding
improving access to recreation will include examples of
bringing nature back to cities, providing and creating natural
and built recreation infrastructure (e.g. trails, parklands, open
spaces, water resources, etc.), creating opportunities for affordable
access to recreation and strategies to gain support
for providing access to recreation from stakeholders.
Expected Outcomes
The session will bring together health, policy, recreation,
environment, and planning professionals to explore the
policy issue of access to recreation in the built environment
in depth. Following the innovative and promising practices
presentation, participants will have an opportunity to work
together to develop concrete policy recommendations and
a framework for action to address the issue of access to
recreation with the goal of ensuring that everyone in Ontario
can participate in recreation opportunities.
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