Voice Vol.1 Nr.2

URBAN V ICE
WHO EUROPEAN HEALTHY CITIES NEWSLETTER
Healthy Cities has a challenge to lead
The February Hanover 2000
Conference of the European
Sustainable Cities and Towns
Campaign was a milestone
event which brought together
some 1,300 participants from
52 countries. This Conference
crystallized the learning and
experience of cities across
Europe who have made a
commitment to work towards
sustainable development. A
clear outcome was the
recognition that much greater
efforts must be made to
increase community
involvement and to address
the health, social and
economic aspects of
sustainable development.
These concerns were echoed
in the Hanover Call, the
political statement of the
Conference.
Addressing health and social
issues in sustainable
development policies involves
making an explicit effort to
improve the living and
working standards of the
disadvantaged and to raise
the standards of the physical
Business Meetings
The WHO Centre for Urban Health is holding consecutive Business Meetings for the Network
of European National Healthy Cities Networks (Vejle, Denmark) and the Phase III WHO
Healthy Cities Network (Horsens, Denmark).
Healthy City Mayors and senior politicians across Europe will come together in Horsens on
Saturday June 10 th to discuss equity.
Participants will have the opportunity to mark their commitment to equity with a political
statement.
See related articles on pages 2 and 10.
and social environment.
Disparities of education,
income, working conditions,
social status, access to
services and the quality of the
physical environment are
factors associated with major
inequalities in health in cities.
However, as revealed in
Hanover, many cities which
boast a commitment to
sustainable development do
not seriously address these
health, economic and social
concerns in their sustainable
development policies.
The first principle of the Rio
Declaration on Environment
and Development is that
human health is at the centre
of concern for sustainable
development. Health is one of
the key outcomes which can
be measured and used to
inform decisions about
whether policies can be
considered sustainable.
Policies which do not include
a conscious effort to address
health risk being
unsustainable – negating
progress made in other areas.
WHO Healthy Cities website: http://www.who.dk/healthy-cities/
WHO Healthy Cities
represent a great resource
for cities across Europe
who aim to include health
and social concerns in
their sustainable
development policies.
With its conceptual
frameworks for
understanding and
responding to complex
issues related to equity,
social determinants of
health, community
participation and urban
planning, Healthy Cities
has developed tools and
guidance and systematic
short- and long-term
approaches for taking
action for health and
sustainable development.
WHO Healthy Cities
across Europe have a great
opportunity and a
responsibility to respond
to the Hanover Call by
showing leadership and by
demonstrating their
experience in these areas
of sustainable
development.
Centre for Urban Health
MAY 2000
Political Spotlight
“Two steps ahead, but..
please keep it simple” Mayor
Jostein Rovik, Sandes
p.3
WHO EURO
A new Regional Director, Dr
Danzon
p.4
News from the French
speaking Healthy cities p.4
City Spotlight
Kuressaare, Estonia
p.5
Healthy City Headline
News
Priorities and current events
from Amadora to Turku.
p. 6-8
Partner Forum
Are you looking for partners
that could participate in your
project or event for local
sustainable development ?
p. 9
National Networks
News
p. 10
News from the Centre
for Urban Health
p.11
Healthy Cities around
the world
News from USA and the
Western Pacific Region
p.12
Resource Profile
WHO Collaborating Centre for
Healthy Cities and Urban
Policy
p.13
Conference
Hannover 2000
N O 2
vol. 1
p.14-15

2
Commentary
Health and sustainable development
The theme for this issue of
Urban Voice is Health and
Sustainable Development.
The argument for
strengthening the links
between health and
sustainable development is
compelling and widely
accepted, but there remains
the practical task of achieving
widespread implementation of
this vision.
This issue features several
examples of how the
integration of environment
and health perspectives have
helped to drive public policy
in cities. From Sandnes,
Norway, the Mayor Jostein
Rovik, describes how
experience has shown them
that they cannot have health
without good housing, a clean
environment and so on. For
Sandnes now, it is natural to
see these things together and
the political and
organisational response
required is therefore easier to
implement. The Healthy Cities
co-ordinator is responsible for
both Healthy Cities and
environment including LA-21
in the town. Recently steps
Taking place in the
Millennium year, and half
way through Phase III (1998
– 2002), the third official
Business Meeting of the
WHO Healthy Cities network
is significant. To mark this
special event, the main
theme of the meeting will be
equity. The provisional
programme for the Business
Meeting has been developed
by the WHO Centre for
Urban Health with the
valuable input of the Phase
have been taken to reorganise
responsibilities in
local government to allow
more strategic thinking, and to
encourage staff always to
consider whether or not their
actions will benefit the health
of the population.
The subject of our city profile,
Kuressaare in Estonia, has
identified many aspects of
sustainable development for
their city health plan. The
Healthy Cities Project is
playing an important role in
the partnership set up to
achieve these aims.
The recent Hannover 2000
conference represents an
important milestone in
development of the
Sustainable Cities and Towns
Campaign, an initiative that
arose out of the Aalborg
Charter and works for the
implementation of LA-21 in
Europe. This campaign is now
very substantial involving
more than 650 local and
regional authorities and
representing over 150 million
European citizens. The broad
partnership, which in addition
to Health Cities involves
ICLEI, UTO, CEMR and
Eurocities (see page 15 for
information on these partners)
demonstrates the range of
health and urban development
interests involved.
From the National Networks, a
brief report from the French-
Speaking Network on their
recent Tunis meeting
describes how this was the
main topic for their 5 th reunion.
The network agreed to
intensify efforts to combine
health and sustainable
development, particularly in
the African countries. The
work of the WHO
Collaborating Centre for
Healthy Cities and Urban
Policy at Bristol is also
reported, and emphasises that
sustainable development
involves more than just
environment and economic
development – quality of life,
health and social inclusion are
also vital components.
Among their current activities
are the production of two
publications, one a manual to
assist planners to appreciate
how their work can contribute
to health, the other a researchbased
guide on healthy
neighbourhood planning.
These and other examples –
together with the many more
than are not described in this
issue - clearly show how much
commitment exists to seeing
greater integration of health
and sustainable development.
But there remain challenges in
translating this vision into
strategic planning and
especially in the day-to-day
work of the organisations,
businesses and communities.
A second challenge will be in
monitoring and evaluation,
picking efficient and practical
indicators and identifying the
resources and skills to carry
out the work.
These aspirations and
commitment are clearly
apparent in the ideas and
plans of the cities, networks
and other activities
represented in this issue
Urban Voice. The coming
months and years can be
expected to witness a great
deal more energy going into
the implementation of these
ideas, with tremendous
potential for sharing and
building on that experience.
Business Meeting and Mayor’s Meeting set to take
place in Horsens, Denmark, 07-10 June 2000
III (1998-2002) WHO Healthy
Cities Network Advisory
Committee, and in accordance
with the Phase III Action
Framework: Business
Meetings Action Plan, which
was agreed at the Vienna
Business meeting in October
1999. Topics included in the
programme include city health
development planning,
community participation and
working with the business and
education sectors.
Equity will be a key issue
On Saturday June 10 th 2000,
there will be a special meeting
for City Mayors. Healthy
Cities is a political and policy
movement that can only fulfil
its mission with active and
sustained political support.
During the Vienna Business
Meeting, Healthy Cities
politicians selected equity as
the main theme for the
Mayors’ meeting in Horsens.
This meeting will focus
specifically on the importance
of working for equity in cities,
Nigel Bruce
and the means of achieving it.
The meeting will provide
senior politicians with the
opportunity to mark their
commitment to equity with a
political statement pledging to
deliver concrete outcomes in
this area by the end of the
Phase III.
The news and outcomes of
both the Business and
Mayor’s meetings will be
included in the next issue of
Urban Voice.

In Sandnes, Norway, Healthy
Cities has proved to be a
valuable strategic “partner”
according to Jostein Rovik,
the Mayor. It has provided a
valuable and effective means of
engaging the citizens and
politicians in making
decisions to promote
sustainable development in the
city. The networks have also
been valuable, providing a
“mirror” with which to view
experience in other cities
throughout Europe, and to
reflect more on circumstances
at home. But, along with these
and other positive aspects of
involvement in Healthy Cities
comes a warning to avoid too
much theoretical discussion
and administrative complexity
– politicians must deliver
action and need the practical
knowledge to support this.
Interview by Flemming Holm
and Nigel Bruce
In Sandnes, Norway, the
politicians want to be two
steps ahead, planning the
future for their city. To them
the Healthy Cities is not “just”
a matter of preventing
accidents from happening.
That is the fair, first step. But
the Norwegians take
advantage of having two eyes,
and the second eye is fixed
upon “health promotion”,
which is even more satisfying,
according to, Jostein Rovik.
Political Spotlight
Two Steps ahead, but.. please keep it simple!
“The question is how to
develop and maintain healthy
surroundings, which can
provide our citizens with a
psychological well-being,”
says Mr. Rovik.surroundings
are very important to us, as
we seem to be growing 2 %
every year. To get two steps
ahead of ourselves, it is
essential to hold up the mirror
and learn from other cities. To
see how they handle their
problems. Healthy Cities has
become a gradually more
truthful mirror, because it
relates to the local reality all
over Europe, but at the same
time provides us with tools to
improve our local, daily
actions”.
How does the Healthy Cities
process help you plan for a
more healthy community?
I do consider WHO Healthy
Cities to be a strategic partner
for me as a politician. When
we make plans, citizens will
say - through the various
committees, representatives,
voluntary organisations and
businesses - how can you
plan this or that, and call
yourself a “Healthy City” ?
Such questions create a
strong resonance among my
political colleagues. The
concrete outcome of this is
that we now make political
decisions that relate much
more closely to Health For
All. For example, we had
some very lively discussion
when a company wanted to
build houses which would
prevent the local citizens from
enjoying the waterfront.
Access to a walk along our
waterfront meant a lot to
everybody’s quality of life.
But the WHO-influence also
can be seen in our National
Network of fifteen Healthy
Cities, which really gets the
ideas circulated. We have
initiated a number of projects,
including the development of
health profiles. We have
asked all of the cities to join in
this, and we hope that once
completed we will be able to
circulate the information and
make comparisons.
Two of the crucial themes in
this third phase of Healthy
Cities deal with
“inequalities” and
integration of Agenda 21 and
Health For All. How is the
city of Sandnes trying to
tackle these two imperatives?
We used to say we had
equality in Norway - and in
our city - but now we are
looking at this again. It is
certainly true that we have no
slum areas, but we do still
have vulnerable groups of
citizens: ethnic groups, young
people, elderly people.
I think the WHO-perspective
offers a valuable way of
tackling inequalities. Healthy
Cities can also take the wider,
global situation into
consideration, while we
concentrate on improving the
living-conditions for our own
citizens. The European
network is trying to find a way
of sharing our experience and
results with cities from the
poor areas of eastern Europe
and I must say the enthusiasm
and interest shown by
Russian cities has impressed
me. Maybe this is because
Norway and Russia share a
common border.
I do think we should be
working actively to deal with
the inequalities in Europe and
this is where the WHO project
can set an example which can
be shared. We are the ones
who can take the initiative to
avoid a global break-down,
though we cannot make it
happen in India and Africa
right now. WHO is in a
position to disseminate
experience and results once
Europe has set the example on
how to deal with the
inequalities here. But we have
to concentrate on working
together with a good number
of eastern European cities, and
we must create new projects
from which they can benefit. It
is essential that they get into
the network one way or
another.
How successful have you been
at integrating health and
sustainable development
initiatives in Sandnes?
On the environmental side, my
city is already very active. For
example, our Healthy City Coordinator
is also responsible
for the environment, including
Local Agenda 21. Before his
present job, he was an
environmental advisor in the
city. We seem to have a
tradition of integrating
environment and health
thinking and it has been very
natural for us to see these
things together. Maybe it
happened because our lakes
were polluted from industries
abroad. Our fish were dying.
At that time we had to realise
that we only have “one air”.
We learned that health and
nature must be seen together,
and that we can not protect
our own health by local force
alone. Well-functioning
international networks are
crucial, which lead me to
another important matter.
I do think the development of
this WHO project has been
very good - that is why
Sandnes applied for the third
phase.
But, I am worried by a
tendency towards greater
complexity, paper work, long
meetings, etc. I realise that
international co-operation is
complex and to some extent
this is unavoidable.
Nevertheless, I do offer this as
an observation, or perhaps a
warning. From a Norwegian
... continued on page 4
3

4
... continued
political point of view we prefer
action rather than books and
pamphlets. We need to get the
right balance between the
politicians and the experts and
not spend all our time together
discussing theoretical
questions and organisation. It
is important to explain practical
ideas and experience in
language that is clearly
understood by those who have
to implement it – it must not
just be a discussion among
high level experts.
Let’s not end up a traditional
UN-body, producing paper, in
situations where practical
changes are needed. Let us
keep our feet on the ground
and face this fact: we are all
simple people with simple
needs. Therefore we also
should keep our organisation
as simple as possible. We
should not concern ourselves
about the size of the thing, but
about the quality of our
“togetherness”. But we will
lose out if our organisation
gets to big or complicated.
How are you trying to
achieve this in your own
municipality?
I am happy to say that we try to
practice what we preach. In
Sandnes we have just removed
all top-leaders from daily,
vertical responsibility to
strategic and horizontal “crosssector-responsibility”.
What
we are trying to achieve is a
situation where everyone in the
city administration involved in
planning has in the back of his
or her head the question, “Is
this good for the health of
people in the city?” So far we
feel that this has been a very
good change, and should pave
the way for divisional leaders
to think like this on a daily
basis.
For more information:
Mr Jostein Rovik
Mayor – Sandnes Kommune
PB 583
N-4301 Sandnes, Norway
Tel: +47 516 05587
E-mail:
ordforer@sandnes.kommune.no
A new Regional Director for the
WHO Regional Office for Europe
On February 1, 2000, Dr
Marc Danzon succeeded Dr
Jo E. Asvall, taking up the
duties of Regional Director
of the WHO Regional
Office for Europe for a 5year
term. Dr Danzon’s
platform for the post of
WHO Regional Director
stressed health as an
accessible human right for
all. Dr Danzon has 25 years
of experience in public
health at national and
international levels and
during that time has
specialized in psychiatry,
health management and
economics.
“I strongly believe in WHO
and its potential to
advocate and support
health. I am committed to
WHO’s ideals, and look
forward to working with
people throughout the
European Region and
beyond in making access to
“From neighbourhood to the
entire planet... Healthy Cities
and Sustainable
Development”
This is the subject that the
French speaking healthy
cities decided to work on at
their 5th reunion which was
held in Hamman-Sousse in
Tunisia from the 4th to the
7th December 1999.
150 people from countries in
Africa (Cameroon, the
Central African Republic,
Morocco, Senegal, Togo),
America (Quebec, Canada)
and Europe (Germany,
Belgium, France,
Switzerland) participated in
this conference.
Representatives from the 25
Tunisian cities, most of
whom were city mayors, also
participated actively in the
health for all a reality in the
new millennium,” states Dr
Danzon.
Dr Danzon has twice worked
for the WHO Regional Office
for Europe. From 1985 to 1989,
he was responsible for
communication and public
information and launched a
conference.
The Healthy City Project has
been associated with health
and environment from its
beginning. Indeed the project
must lean on the approach of
sustainable development,
which is not limited to the
environment, but must
integrate health as a priority.
The participants reflected on
and compared their own
experiences and contemplated
new perspectives by referring
to the principles of both
Healthy Cities and sustainable
development. They have tried
to reconcile aspects of four
key dimensions of Sustainable
Development: social, cultural,
environmental and economic.
The participants agreed to
intensify cooperation and
promote the combined
development of Healthy Cities
and sustainable development
major public health
campaign against tobacco
use. In 1992, Dr Danzon
returned to the Regional
Office as director of the new
Country Health
Development Department.
In this capacity, he was
responsible for the
development of the
EUROHEALTH programme
to help meet the special
needs of the countries of
central and eastern Europe.
He then became director of
the Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention
Department.
Before rejoining WHO/EURO
as Regional Director, Dr
Danzon acted as Director for
Public Health at the National
Federation of Mutual
Insurance Societies in France, a
non-profit supplementary
health insurance organization
covering 35 million people and
managing 1500 health and
social establishments in France.
News from the French speaking
Healthy Cities
in the French speaking
countries and particularly in
the African countries.
The participants of the
Conference have decided to:
• organize the 6 th French
speaking conference in
Angers (France) in the year
2001
• study the feasibility of
creating a Mediterranean
network
• develop tools for better
communication between the
French speaking networks
• create a common newsletter
• establish a French speaking
website
• create a NGO (association)
Annette SABOURAUD
Centre Collaborateur OMS
pour les Villes-Santé
Francophones BP 3126 -
35031 RENNES – France.
E-mail: sante.oms@wanadoo.fr

Kuressaare lies on the
southern shore of Saaremaa,
Estonia’s largest island. It is a
relatively small town, with a
population of just over 16,000.
It has a long history, with an
old town and a castle dating
from the 13 th Century.
Although not an industrial
centre, the town is now
rediscovering its 19 th Century
popularity as a tourist centre.
The period of Soviet control
has had major influence on the
contemporary life in the town,
and the problems that the
Healthy Cities project is now
addressing.
For 30 years, children could not
swim in Kuresaare Bay because
of water pollution arising from
the discharge of untreated
waste into the sea. Today,
both the bay and the beach
have been cleaned and many of
the town’s inhabitants spend
their spare time swimming and
playing tennis or volleyball on
the beach. The result has been
attained due to the determination
of the town decision-makers to
make the living environment
healthier in Kuressaare. The
Healthy Cities project is
playing an important part in
that process.
Kuressaare is one of Estonia’s
small towns and is green, cosy,
friendly, open and developing.
That is how people in
Kuressaare want to view their
own city. And with the city’s
participation in the City Health
Plan (see box) they are working
actively for improvement.
In Kuressaare the newly
cleaned beach is just one of
many positive things that have
happened since the Town
Council decided to launch
initiatives to improve the living
environment in the city.
”Compared to Healthy Cities in
other countries, the people in
Estonia are of course dealing
with bigger problems than
many other countries, but I
think we have achieved quite a
few things so far”, says project
coordinator Ingrid Tilts.
Around one third of the
population is not connected to
the central water supply and
sewerage systems, so another
Key elements of Kuressaare’s City Health Plan
City Spotlight
priority is improvement of the
water and sanitation services.
”At the moment we are renewing
the pipelines but in some places
we have to build new ones. A
fresh water treatment plant has
been renovated and we are
working on the waste water
purification system. It is a time
consuming and resource
intensive process to secure high
quality drinking water to every
person”.
It is evident that the Soviet period
has affected Kuressaare in many
ways, for example, with respect to
employment. ”During the Soviet
Period everyone was
guaranteed work. But today, if
you lose your job, you may
have to be retrained and that is
a stressful problem for many”,
Ingrid Tilts explains.
Another priority is the specific
needs of the elderly which were
almost totally neglected during
the Soviet period. During the
Second World War a lot of
women were left widowed.
Today some of them still live
alone with no children and
relatives to care for them. The
Organisation and development: The project is co-funded by Kuressaare Town Council and a
number of other sources. It is run as a partnership between the Commissions of the council, the
main local businesses impacting on people’s lives, the Doctors’ Society and other key stakeholders
and organisations.
Targets: Short and long-term targets are being developed for a wide range of issues covering
Health and Social Care, Environment, water and waste, heat and energy, streets and transport,
spatial planning, recreation areas and green zones, housing, economy, culture and sports, and
eduction.
Other priority issues: Older people (services, activities, participation), tobacco control strategy
with special youth emphasis, monitoring and evaluation system.
Now it is safe for our children to
swim: challenges and progress
in Kuressaare, Estonia
K u r e s s a a r e
Healthy Cities project is
developing a range of initiatives
with a preventive emphasis,
including the promotion of
participation in community life,
improvement of services and
support (including medical
services), more opportunities for
activities, and better information
on age-related lifestyle changes.
One specific example is the
recently opened Social Day
Centre, where the elderly can
have their daily meal, receive
medical care and laundry
services and participate in
several kinds of social
activities.
Since Kuressaare City Council
started the Healthy Cities
project the city population has
shown a lot of interest in the
various initiatives. From her
experience as project coordinator,
Ingrid Tilts feels that
there are both advantages and
disadvantages to being a small
town. ”On the one hand, in a
small town it is easier to bring
different institutions and
organisations together to act
for a common purpose. On the
other hand, we continually
fight for more money. The good
thing is that people are very
willing to meet and discuss
projects”.
For more information, contact:
Ms Ingrid Tilts
Project Coordinator
Kuressaare Healthy City
Project, Tallinna 10
EE3300 Kuressaare
Estonia
Fax +372 45 33590
Office +372 45 33 588
E-mail: ingrid@kuressaare.tt.ee
5

6
Healthy Cities Headline News
Amadora
The City of AMADORA
entered the third phase of the
project with a new team, a
situation that required the need
to give some extra time to a new
coordinating structure. The
team is nevertheless highly
spirited and motivated for the
project. Towards the end of
this year we are going to
organize the FORUM
AMADORA SAUDAVEL
(Healthy Amadora Forum) and
would like to take this
opportunity to invite
everybody to come up with
suggestions, experiences and
contributions that can enrich
the discussions at the forum.
We would also like to ask
project cities involved in the
project to participate in the
Forum presenting their own
experiences and development
of their individual projects. Dr
Helena Delgado has taken up
other responsibilities and the
current co-ordinator of the
project is Dr Fernando
Salgueiro.
Tel/Fax: +35114945892;
E-mail; fsalgueiro@altavista.net
Athens
In Athens, during this period
and after the earthquake that
changed our plans, we are
working again to finish the
details on our Health Plan. We
are working in co-operation
with almost all sectors of the
municipality, including the
community. Current aims are to
complete what will be a very
detailed plan, and also to
organise the way we need to
work in order to achieve
implementation of the plan.
Tel: 30 1 5244 178;
Fax: 30 5244 128;
E-mail: poleis@cityofathens.gr
Belfast
Belfast Healthy Cities has just
completed an evaluation of
three key elements within its
organisation: the city health
plan development process;
project infrastructures and the
work of the Women’s Health
Group. The report, presented
by the evaluators, Research
and Evaluation Services, at a
workshop on Friday 10 March
2000, considered fundamental
issues affecting the future
development of Healthy Cities.
For further information on the
evaluation brief, process and
report contact:
Tel: +44 1232 642000;
Fax: 44 1232 643723;
E-mail:hcities@bhcp.dnet.co.uk
Brno
One of the main principles of
the Healthy Cities Project is the
involvement of the public in
activities focused on
improvement of health, lifestyle
and living conditions in the
city. Therefore the Brno
Healthy City Project pays great
attention to the organization of
traditional so-called “Brno
Days for Health”. This event
takes place once a year in the
autumn and in 1999 it
celebrated its 5th anniversary.
The Brno-Healthy City Office,
which is a guarantor and
coordinator of the Brno Days
for Health, changed the
screenplay for this occasion:
the event was organized as a
week-long parade of colourful
activities connected with
healthy lifestyle and prepared
by active Brno people for their
fellow citizens. During this
event, Brno residents had the
opportunity to try various
sports, to taste bio-foodstuffs,
to learn more about nature and
how to preserve it, to
participate in the Celebration
for All Generations as a part of
the Global Embrace event, and
even to celebrate the
International Animals´ Day.
The Brno Days for Health 1999
was judged to have been a
great success in view of the
numbers of visitors and also
from the interest and
andinvolvement of the
organizers of more than 30
different events. No doubt this
5 years old tradition will
continue trying to help the
Brno inhabitants to find their
way to the healthier lifestyle.
Tel: +420 5 422 16805;
Fax: +420 5 421 73514/73517;
E-mail:
zdrave-mesto@brno-city.cz
Copenhagen
Reducing inequalities in health
– what can be done?
International conference in
Copenhagen 27-29 September
2000.
The conference focuses on
what can be done to reduce
existing inequalities in health
between various groups in
society. It is the ambition of the
conference to focus on
practical real world examples
that represent valuable
experience to others. The
conference will highlight the
following aspects:
n Existing social inequalities in
health with examples from all
over Europe.
n Strategies and policies to
reduce social inequalities in
health from European,
national, regional and city
perspectives. What are the
achievements and what are
the lessons learnt?
n Interventions to reduce
health differences
concentrating on examples of
good practice.
The conference is targeted at
decision makers at
international, national and city
levels all over Europe. In
addition to health care
professionals these include
health promotion advisers and
health and social planners,
representatives from city
governments, from regional and
national authorities and from
international organisations.
The conference is organised by
the City of Copenhagen and
the Danish Ministry of Health
in close co-operation with the
WHO, Regional Office for
Europe. For more information,
preliminary programme and
registration form see:
http://www.inequalitiescopenhagen.dk.
Tel: + 45 35 30 35 75;
Fax: +45 35 30 39 39;
E-mail: bfb.suf@ipost.kk.dk
Glasgow
Glasgow Healthy City
Partnership is the city’s main
formal alliance for health and
brings together Glasgow City
Council, Greater Glasgow
Health Board, the three
universities and statutory and
community organisations to
support a range of activities.
Current priority themes include
Children, Black and Ethnic
Minority Groups, Women,
Food, Transport and Tobacco.
The Partnership has a large
range of reports and
publications available on
request and forthcoming
publications include: “Dear
Green Place”: a Community
Guide to Environment and
Health Issues in Glasgow.
(Publication: due late Spring
2000) “Black and Ethnic
Minority Service Review”: a
review of current health-related
services, initiatives and
agencies within Glasgow that
offered tailored assistance to
people from black and ethnic
minority communities.
(Publication: late spring 2000)
The document “Glasgow
Health City Partnership: 3-year
Review” will explore the work
carried out over the 3-year
period 1997-1999 and will end
with an overview of the
opportunities and challenges
for the future. (Publication due
late Spring/Summer 2000)
Also, please amend your email
records and direct all future
correspondence to Glasgow
Healthy City Partnership to:
healthy.cities@glasgow.gov.uk.
Tel: +44 141 287 5788;
Fax: +44 141 287 5997;
E-mail:
healthy.cities@glasgow.gov.uk
Gothenburg
50% more cyclists in Göteborg
by the year 2012 – that is one
of the principal aims of the
Bicycle Programme, recently
adopted by the Road Traffic
Committee. The focus will be
on a more integrated cycle path
network, with a total of 110 km
new paths being developed
while the existing 300 km will be
improved. In addition, about
1000 cycles will be available for
rental. Local residents will be
involved in this programme. In
another initiative, the FRAS
exercise project for older
people, all those over 60 will be
invited to regular exercise
sessions in the workout
centres, and to take part in
other leisure activities and
social events. The project is a
collaboration between the
Sports and Associations
department and the different
owners of workout centres and
the local districts.
Tel: +46 31 61 10 78;
Fax: +46 31 774 02 63;
E-mail:
Marianne.hallbert.goteborg.se

Helsingborg
Politicians and professionals
from different sectors in the
city of Helsingborg recently
attended the European
Conference on Sustainable
Cities and Towns, in Hannover.
This conference gave us a lot
more confidence about the
importance of integrating
Agenda 21 and the Healthy
Cities project. Equity and
sustainable development are
common targets and
involvement, empowerment
and participation are common
methods. We will put a lot of
effort in achieving this
integration at all levels during
the year 2000. Med hälsning
från oss i Helsingborg. (With
greetings from Helsingborg.)
Elisabeth Bengtsson.
Tel: +46 42 104911;
Fax; +45 42 106844;
E-mail: Elisabeth.bengtsson@
stad.helsingborg.se
Horsens
The cross-sectoral Healthy
City Group at the town hall is
working to implement the
Monitoring, Accountability,
Reporting and Impact
Assessment Framework
(MARI) as an evaluation-tool
and to combine it with locally
developed methods.
Another working-group is
dealing with the subject of “a
new communications strategy”
for the Healthy City work. The
new strategy will focus on the
3rd phase targets, whereas the
previous strategy aimed at
building up a people’s
movement around the Health
For All-targets, and involving
the private sector and
volunteers.
A survey has been carried out
among users of the Healthy
City Shop, asking questions
such as “What do they miss in
the everyday service?” and
“What do the citizens suggest
and prefer (for the Shop)?”
The study will be completed
shortly and the results should
be ready for the Business
Meeting in Horsens in June,
which a third working group is
preparing together with WHO/
EURO.
Tel:+4575614344;
Fax: +4575614800;
E-mail: ssikri@horsens.dk
Kosice
Both the City of Kosice and the
Slovakian National Network are
facing difficult times due to the
economic situation of the
country. The budgets of
Healthy Cities are extremely
limited and in many cases have
been cut. Despite this, we are
heading towards the objectives
and aims of the third phase of
the HCP, namely: the
reconstruction of the Steering
Committee and involvement of
partners as well as office staff
are the key priorities. The HCP
is preparing a number of small
activities (Earth Day 2000,
National Days of Health,
Cycling Day...) and methods for
preparing the Health
Development Plan ... it is not an
easy process. We would be
interested in sharing our
proposal for this development
work, and receiving comments.
The most reliable source of
support so far has been the
local Health Fund, which
provides limited finance
assistance for local community
activities.
Tel: +421 95 6 419270;
Fax: +421 95 6 436288;
E-mail: gejza@mmk.ke.sanet.sk
Kuressaare
Kuressaare has started working
on two major strategy
documents that will have a
long-term influence on the
development of the town. The
Master Plan of Kuressaare is
based on spatial planning
principles up to 2010. The main
emphasis is on the further
development of the recreation
area of the town located at the
seaside and includes the yacht
harbour, launched in 1999, the
beach and the mediaeval castlefortification
complex with the
surrounding town park. The
other document being
developed is the Town
Development Plan that
identifies the major
development strategies up to
2010, paying special attention
to the next five years. The
Health Working Group will
prepare the City Health
Development Plan (CHDP) in
line with the Town
Development Plan. This
working group includes
representatives of the Town
Government, Town Council,
County Government, medical
institutions and practising
doctors. So, the CHDP will be
connected to the general town
development strategies that we
consider very important since
this would facilitate the
implementation of Healthy
Cities strategies and principles
in the future.
Tel: +372 45 33 588;
Fax +372 45 33 590;
E-mail: ingrid@kuressaare.tt.ee
Lodz
Lodz Healthy Cities Project is
planning to extend the local
Network of Health Promoting
Schools which so far has
included only primary schools.
This year it has been joined by
twelve junior high schools.
Since there is a great interest in
health promotion in
kindergartens as well, a
network of healthy
kindergartens will be created.
The representatives of ten
kindergartens who wish to
establish the network met in
March to plan their work for
the coming months.
Tel/Fax: +45 42 38 47 37;
E-mail:
zdrowie@post.uml.lodz.pl
Newcastle upon Tyne
In Newcastle our main
programme to reduce health
inequalities is through a
national policy called “Health
Action Zones”. Locally, the
programme consists of 16
action themes, ranging from
improving access to services
for people with disabilities to
improving health through
warmer homes.
To make sure the local health
work is not just a collection of
separate projects, those leading
the work on the different local
themes meet every few months.
In our next meeting, for
example, we will be talking
about how to ensure that our
work influences the main local
organisations to bring about
sustainable change.
Our local multi-sectoral coordinating
committee, The
Newcastle Health Partnership,
has launched its own website.
Have a look at: http://
www.nhp-health.co.uk.
The Newcastle Health
Partnership has agreed a major
school nutrition initiative which
will work with schools across
the City. Work has just begun
but is likely to include school
food policies, free fruit in
schools and developing
budgeting and cooking skills.
Tel: +44 191 232 3357;
Fax: +44 191 232 3917;
E-mail: bobstewart@
newcastlehealthycity.onyxnet.co.uk
Rennes
The health of the elderly may
not be a very trendy topic, but
a recent experience in Rennes,
France showed how many
people are looking for
information.
With 20 partners, the Healthy
Cities project organised an
afternoon conference about
Alzheimer’s disease during
January 2000. The topics at the
conference included the
symptoms, the role of the
doctor, support possible for the
family including help at home
and the role for day care centre.
Rennes Healthy Cities project
has a number of concrete
... continued on page 8
7

8
... continued
projects in the field of the
prevention of alcohol abuse
and illegal drugs. These
include putting in place an
automatic needle exchange
open during the night,
prevention during a 3-day
international Tecno-music
festival, and a town map
marking all the places
providing help to people
addicited to drugs or alcohol.
They would be pleased to
learn from the experiances of
other cities in this field.
Tel: +33 299 67 85 62;
Fax: +33 299 67 85 97;
E-mail: heritage.zoe@fnac.net
Rijeka
Citizens’ interest groups in
cooperation with the Project
Team of the City Government
and the Design Office of the
City of Rijeka have developed a
number of projects and
programmes for the year 2000.
Sustainable growth:
Publication of a brochure
containing guidelines for
Agenda 21, to which the City of
Rijeka is a signatory to, and an
invitation to all citizens to
participate by proposing their
own ideas for achieving
sustainable growth.
Improvement and protection of
the environment
A session of the City Council
Primary and Secondary School
Pupils on the protection of the
environment is planned for the
5th June 2000 with the
participation of local
government representatives .
The following activities are
planned:
n Publication of an eco
calendar aimed at raising the
ecological awareness of
children and pupils.
n Organization of various
competitions and
manifestations on the
occasion of particular
important eco-dates
(cleaning of the schoolyards
on the Day of the Planet
Earth, collection of paper,
pilot project on the topic of
selective waste, fine arts and
literary works on the theme of
improvement and protection
of the environment).
n Publication of a brochure
with ecological messages:
“Children’s green messages
to children and adults”.
n Publication of a guidebook
on associations of the
disabled, organization of
lectures, publication of
leaflets with health messages,
production of a mascot
(healthy children for sick
children).
n Improvement of the quality
of life of the elderly
n Organization of
psychological help to the
elderly, and various other
activities such as workshops
and free recreation, and
organization of lectures on
healthy ageing.
Tel: +385 51 209 626;
E-mail: vojko.obersnel@gradrijeka.tel.hr
Seixal
The Healthy Seixal Project
organized the “Bay Journey” to
commemorate World Health
Day on 7th April. This
initiative congregated several
different educational, sports,
recreational and social
activities within the Bay
context aimed at raising
awareness of the existence of a
resource in the Municipality of
Seixal with great potential for
the promotion of health - Seixal
Bay.
A protocol on collaboration in
the ambit of Tuberculosis was
signed.
For information on the wide
range of activities that took
place as part of this WHO
event, contact:
Tel: 351 1 227 1754;
Fax: +351 1 227 1907:
E-mail:
seixal.saudavel@mail.telepac.pt
Sheffield
The first meeting of the
‘shadow’ Partnership for
Health Committee was held on
the 9th of February 2000. This
partnership is led by the Health
Authority and City Council
(including senior political
involvement). Membership
includes the Universities,
Police, Voluntary Sector, the
College, Hospitals Community
Health and Primary Care Trusts.
This new partnership will
provide strategic leadership for
health planning in the city. It
will link hospital services,
primary care, social care and
activity addressing the wider
causes of ill health. The next
phase will be establishing links
with local communities and the
structures for the joint planning
and commissioning of services.
The Healthy City Office will
report directly to the
partnership and will play a
significant role in making this
new partnership work.
Mark Gamsu.
Tel: +44 114 273 5869;
Fax: +44 114 273 4694;
E-mail: Healthysheffield@
sheffcc.freeserve.co.uk
Stockholm
In Stockholm we have started a
network for “Health Shops”, a
network for “Healthy
Workplaces” and are just
starting one for “Tobacco
prevention”. These networks
are open to people working in
the 26 County municipalities .
We are also planning for a
conference, Healthy Urban
Planning, in October in
collaboration with the
association for the 26
municipalities and the Regional
Planning Office. One
municipality, Haninge, is also
planning an educational
initiative for the politicians and
heads of different departments,
which will build on Health 21.
In collaboration with
Copenhagen we have
conducted a Peer-Review of
Health Shops and tobacco
preventive work, reports of
which will completed in April.
We will be able to report more
about this work in the next
issue.
Lena Kanström.
Tel: +46 8 517 77 947;
Fax: +46 8 33 46 93;
E-mail:
lena.kanstrom@smd.sll.se
Stoke-on-Trent
We have been concentrating
on developing our
Communication Plan. One area
we have been pursuing is to
actively involve partner
agencies by getting them to
publish information and articles
in their own newsletters about
the Healthy City Partnership
and how the work of their
organisation supports a
healthy city approach. We
have also publicised those
voluntary organisations we
have just awarded healthy city
grants to. These were awarded
for a range of activities
including a walking bus at a
local primary school and a
community gardening project.
Tel: +44 1782 236344;
Fax: +44 1782 23221;
E-mail: paula.hawleyevans@stoke.gov.uk
Turku
Participation as a tool for local
empowerment is the practical
Healthy Cities work in nine
neighbourhood areas in Turku.
It is aimed at people’s
opportunities for participation
and influence. The voice of
active citizens is channelled
and more importantly the views
of individuals that have
remained passive are
supported. The work is carried
out in cross-sectoral and
multiprofessional working
groups, and everybody
(NGO´s, companies etc) is
encouraged to join this
partnership to plan and
develop the neighbourhood
together. A special
neighbourhood worker will be
employed for years 2000-2001
in each area.
Tel: 358 2 2627 249;
Fax: 358 2 2627 566;
E-mail:
heini.parkkunen@turku.fi

Partner Forum
n Are you looking for
partners that could
participate in your project
or event for local
sustainable
development?
n Are you searching for
projects or events on
health and sustainble
development where you
could join in and become
a partner?
The aim of this Partner Forum
is to provide a meeting place
for cities to both find and
initiate projects and events for
health and sustainable
development across Europe.
The Partner Forum is offered
to all members of Healthy
Cities networks.
The Slovakian National
Healthy Cities Network
The network is interested to
learn about the approach and
attitudes of different cities in
developing the city health
development plans. The
national network in Slovakia is
looking for project partners for
participation in EU-based
projects including SAVE, LIFE,
the DGXII Fifth Action
Framework and PHARE. The
National Network is also
interesting in exploring
opportunities for city twinning.
Gejza Legen;
Tel: +421 95 6 419270;
Fax: +421 95 6 436288;
E-mail:gejza@mmk.ke.sanet.sk
WHO Healthy Cities web site
The WHO Centre for Urban
Health has an extensive web
site with a wide range of
information.
There is information for cities
applying for desination and for
those already designated, as
well as for professionals and
other interested groups and
individuals.
From the main page you can
choose 7 items:
n Centre for Urban Health.
n WHO Healthy Cities
project.
n Publications to download.
n Debate forum.
n News.
n Links.
n Contact information.
Centre for Urban Health:
Describes the background and
strategy for the Centre for
Urban Health.
WHO Healthy Cities Project:
Describes the background of
Healthy Cities and its 3 phases.
It is possible to download
application information, e.g. the
Phase III requirements
document (in WHO’s 4 official
languages) and the Healthy
Cities baseline indicators
questionnaire.
Publications to download:
Gives you the possibility to
download most of the WHO
Healthy Cities publications and
a number of newsletter,
including the Urban Voice.
If you have electronic
newsletters and would like to
link it to our web site, please
contact us.
Debate forum:
This is an opportunity to have
an exchange of opinions and
ideas on the web.
Rennes Healthy City
Rennes Healthy Cities project
has a number of concrete
projects in the field of the
prevention of alcohol abuse
and illegal drugs. These
include putting in place an
automatic needle exchange
open during the night,
prevention during a 3-day
international Tecno-music
festival, and a town map
marking all the places providing
help to people addicited to
drugs or alcohol. Rennes would
be pleased to learn from the
experiences of other cities in
this field.
Zoe Heritage;
Tel: +33 299 67 85 62;
E-mail:
SCHS.Rennes@wanadoo.fr
The UK Health for All
Network (HFAN)
HFAN is seeking opportunities
to work with the new Health
Development Agency (formerly
the Health Education
Authority) and the Health
We have created 3
debate fora:
n Healthy Cities
and Urban
Health.
n Community
participation.
n Transport,
environment and
health.
News:
Information on new
publications, upcoming
meetings (with link to event
calendar), and other Healthy
Cities related issues.
Links:
Links to Healthy Cities in
Europe and other Healthy City
web sites.
Contact information:
Contains contact information
on the staff of the WHO Centre
for Urban Health, WHO
Collaborating and Subregional
Action Zones which have
recently been established.
Major new initiatives include
an evaluation project and a
proposal for IT based
networking (refer to the
section on National Network
News for more information on
these projects). It is also
hoped to increase our
membership among the
Primary Care Groups and
Trusts in order to support
their work on reducing
inequalities in health.
Country networks will be
established in Wales and reestablished
in Scotland this
year to provide fora for
responding to opportunities
in those countries.
Tel:+44 151 231 4283;
Fax: +44 151 231 4209;
E-mail: ukhfan@livjm.ac.uk
http://www.who.dk/healthy-cities/
centres, Phase III designated
city coordinators and National
Networks coordinators.
Search index:
To facilitate navigation in the
web page, we have created a
search index which can be
found on the main page. The
index gives you a long list of
keywords.
For further information, please
contact:
Anne Mette Nielsen
Tel: +45 39 17 12 72
Fax: +45 39 17 18 60
E-mail: ani@who.dk
9

10
Belgium
Due to it’s language
differences, Belgium was
authorized by WHO to have
two Healthy Cities national
networks: “Liège Province
Santé” and the city of
Mechelen head the Belgian
network.
Flemish speaking National
Network
The Flemish Regional Network
is currently in transition. Due
to the change of health
system administration from
the national to the regional
level, there has been very little
network activity over the last
few years. In 1999 the Flemish
Government established the
legal basis for an intersectoral
network for local health
consultation called the LOGO
(Local Health Platform).
Working together with the
Flemish Ministry of Public
Health, new membership rules
for the network will be set up.
Heidi Van Campfort:
E-mail:
kerstin.vanbulck1@yucom.be
The French speaking
National Network
Liège Province Santé created a
diversified network
comprising cities, one
province and a “Center Public
d’Aide Sociale”. The network
has been used to exchange
information on Health for All
and sustainable environments,
and it is felt that the WHO
strategy is providing useful
“added value”.
Jacqueline Trinon;
Tel: 32 43 49 51 33;
Fax: 32 43 49 51 35;
E-mail:
jacquet@vml.ulg.ac.be
Poland
Late last November in the
beautiful town of Zakopane in
the Tatra mountains, the Polish
Healthy Cities Association
organised a training course for
its coordinators. The training
course concerned evaluation
methods, and the writing of
prevention programmes and
basic documents on health
National Networks News
promotion, including Health
21 and the National Health
Program. The training
continued at the General
Assembly of the Association
held in Lodz on 17-18
February. At the Assembly
the member cities were
encouraged to apply for
designation in Phase III of the
WHO Healthy Cities Project.
Iwona Iwanicka,
E-mail:
zdrowie@post.uml.lodz.pl
Slovakia
Both the City of Kosice and
the national network are
facing difficult times due to
the economic situation in the
country. The budgets of the
Healthy Cities projects in the
network are now extremely
limited and in many cases
have been cut. To help to
reducing costs and to enable
the distribution of large
documents, the national
network is preparing a special
workshop for electronic
communication to be held in
three different locations. See
also Partner Forum.
Gejza Legen;
Tel: +421 95 6 419270;
Fax: +421 95 6 436288;
E-mail: gejza@mmk.ke.sanet.sk
The UK Health for All
Network (HFAN)
Evaluation Project
The UK HFAN has been
developing tools and
methodology for participatory
evaluation of projects and
work. This involves a
collaboration with experts
from Liverpool John Moores
University and Bedfordshire
Health Promotion. It has also
benefited from the time of a
research student at Liverpool
John Moores University. The
idea is based on involving the
public in evaluating work
underway by various
methodologies such as
focussed evaluation (setting
objectives with the group of
people and choosing
indicators of whether they
have been achieved for
example), story telling and
focus groups. A first
workshop has been held in
Liverpool and was so
successful that it will be
repeated many times in other
parts of the UK over the next
12 months, particularly with
inter-sectoral groups. (Refer to
the Partner Forum).
IT based networking
This is the subject of an
application for funding and
involves networking using an
interactive website. Health
pages will be written for the
website and groups of people
(often community groups) will
register with the site and
interact with it to share
experience and information on
health. The UK HFAN will coordinate
the activity and
employ a web master to deal
with the web technology.
(Refer to the Partner Forum).
Pam Ashton;
Tel:+44 151 231 4283;
Fax: +44 151 231 4209;
E-mail: ukhfan@livjm.ac.uk
Ukraine
The Ukrainian Institute of
Public Health, which is home to
the coordination of the
Ukrainian National Network,
has developed a diagnostic
information analytic system
designed to support the
management of Healthy Cities
projects. The system collects
data on the population of the
whole city as well as for
minority and socially deprived
groups.. The data include items
of lifestyle, social well-being
and physical development
The Ukrainian Coordinating
Councils of Healthy Cities and
the European Network of
Health Promoting Schools
have launched the following
two joint activities: Creating
Healthy Schools in Healthy
Cities (Slavutich, Mirhoroc,
Dnipropetrovsk, Uzhgorod);
and Initiating the movement
“From Healthy Schools to
Healthy Cities” ( Donetsk,
Pereyaslav-Hmelnitsky).
Prof Antonina Nahorna,
Tel: +380 44 216 8151;
Fax: +380 44 216 7100,
E-mail:
nahorna@health.freenet.viaduk.net
National Networks
strengthen their role
through Action
Framework
Since the start of Healthy Cities
in 1987, National Healthy Cities
networks have played a major
role in promoting and
advocating policies and actions
for urban health and
commitment to the Healthy
Cities project objectives
throughout Europe, and even
beyond. Substantial effort has
been made during Phase III
(1998 – 2002) through Business
Meetings of the Network or
European National Healthy
Cities Networks (NETWORK),
and through cooperation with
the National Networks
Advisory Committee, to
strengthen the role of national
networks.
The most recent WHO
Business Meeting of the
NETWORK took place in
Turku, Finland from 1-4
December 1999. The meeting
was attended by 67 participants
including 17 national networks
and 1 developing national
network. Apologies were
received from 7 networks.
Representatives of the Baltic
Regional Healthy Cities Office,
the WHO Collaborating Centre
for Healthy Cities Training and
Capacity Building, and the
WHO Collaborating Centre for
Environmental Health
Management also attended and
made contributions to the
meeting. The themes of the
Business Meeting explored the
status and potential prospects
of national networks,
environment and health,
evaluation, monitoring and
impact assessment and political
leadership.
The major outcome of the
Business Meeting was the
endorsement of an Action
Framework which describes the
strategic, technical and
operational focus of the work of
the NETWORK. Its overall aim
is to provide a coherent and
structured basis for supporting
National Healthy Cities
Networks and National Network
cities through joint strategic
and developmental work and

shared learning. A set of
criteria for full membership to
the NETWORK has also been
established.
National Networks are eligible
to become members of the
NETWORK when they provide
an application to WHO stating
that: their membership has
endorsed the minimum basis for
co-operation; they are
committed to work with and
contribute to the NETWORK;
they have fulfilled the
membership criteria of the
NETWORK. The NETWORK
membership criteria has
implications for the overall
organization of a national
network, including criteria for
membership to a national
network. As a minimum,
membership to a European
Healthy Cities National
Network will require cities to:
• make a commitment to the
WHO Health21 policy for
Health for All
• sign a political declaration
• identify a Coordinator/Focal
point and responsible
political representative.
• show visible evidence of
activity
• attend National Network
Meetings
The national network as an
organization will be required to:
• endorse principles and
strategies, whereby the head
of the national network signs
a formal agreement to fulfil
the responsibilities of the
network.
• identify a coordinator with
technical and administrative
resources.
• have clear set of bye-laws, or
a constitution which has
been accepted by its
membership.
• have a steering committee.
At the upcoming Business
Meeting of the NETWORK in
Vejle, Denmark on 5-6 June
2000, it is expected that the
cooperation between national
networks under this Action
Framework will be formalized.
National Networks who have
met the criteria of the
NETWORK will become full
members and their commitment
will be formally recognized by
WHO.
News from the WHO Centre for
Urban Health
A Fond Farewell to Erlinda Petersen
On 31 January 2000, Erlinda
Petersen retired, leaving
Healthy Cities and a 27 year
career at WHO.
Erlinda had provided a first
point of contact at WHO for
many people since the
beginning of the Healthy
Cities Project 13 years ago,
and she will be greatly missed
by colleagues and friends
from WHO and throughout
the Healthy Cities movement.
At the Vienna Business
Meeting last October, Erlinda
was presented with a bouquet
of flowers from the networks,
and the standing ovation she
received from the meeting
participants only served to
emphasise how much she is
valued by all.
On 31 st January 2000, WHO
held a farewell party for
Erlinda. The party was also
attended by Jens Egsgaard,
Coordinator of Healthy City
Copenhagen, who presented
Erlinda with a gift on behalf of
the WHO Phase III Network.
Hello to Avra-Emilie
Congratulations to Agis Tsouros!
Avra-Emilie was born on 4th April at 18.03. A
beautiful baby girl with lots of black hair -
length 53 cm and weight 3.8 kg.
Here she is with her proud father.
A number of speeches were
made, all recognizing Erlinda’s
dedication and invaluable
support to her colleagues,
Healthy Cities and WHO, but
also her outstanding
personality, cheerfulness and
ability to stay calm in any
situation!
Announcement
If you did not get a chance to
say good-bye to Erlinda, don’t
despair! Erlinda will rejoin the
Centre for Urban Health to
support the Horsens and Vejle
Business Meetings.
Following the reorganization of the WHO
Regional Office for Europe, Dr Agis Tsouros
has taken on the role as acting Coordinator,
Division of Partnership for Country Health
Development. The acting head of the Centre for
Urban Health is Dr Jill Farrington.
Staff of Centre for Urban Health:
Dr Jill Farrington
Acting Head, Centre for Urban Health
Acting Regional Adviser, Urban Health Policies
Ms Leah Rothstein Short-term Professional
Ms Claire Mitcham Short-term Professional
Kirsten Andersen Administrative Assistant
Connie Petersen Programme Assistant
Anne Mette Nielsen Assistant
Marie Nielsen Assistant
Brenda Nielsen Assistant
11

12
USA
News from Healthier Cities
and Communities, USA
Tyler Norris, Executive
Director (1994-1999) of the
Coalition for Healthier Cities
and Communities (CHCC),
hosted the Coordinating
Committee, States Liaisons
and other guests in his
hometown of Boulder, CO, in
August 1999.This session
convened over 25 members of
the U.S. Coordinating Council,
20 State Liaisons and expert
advisors from across the
nation around the following
themes:
• Uncovering the early
findings from the
nationwide Healthy
Community Agenda
dialogues;
• Considering effective
approaches to eliminating
health disparity by race and
ethnicity and increasing
Healthy Cities around the world
access to
primary
care and
preventive
services;
• Codifying
the learning
on building
an effective
“state network”
for use in
strengthening existing
networks and organizing
other states.
• Building a sustainability
strategy for CHCC financial
resources and fiscal agency.
The Health Research and
Educational Trust and Health
Forum of the American
Hospital Association hosted
450+ healthy community
leaders at a conference in
Chicago in December 1999
entitled “Transforming
Communities: Improving
Health and Quality of Life.”
The findings of a year’s worth
of dialogues, in which more
Western Pacific Region
Western Pacific region
focuses on Healthy Cities and
Urban Research in Tokyo
The International Conference
on Healthy Cities and Urban
Policy Research took place
during 12-16 March 2000 in
Tokyo, Japan. This meeting
was co-sponsored by the
WHO Regional Office for the
Western Pacific (WPRO)with
the WHO Collaborating
Centre for Healthy Cities and
Urban Policy Research in
Tokyo, and the Japan
Association of Research on
Healthy Cities and the
Promotion Committee for
Healthy City Tokyo. The
Conference provided an
opportunity for the exchange
of opinions and to share
evidence based practices from
various institutions around
the globe. Around 150
participants from mainly Asia
and Australia attended, drawn
from involvement in research,
planning or implementation
of the Healthy Cities project
or other urban initiatives that
give special consideration to
health.
The main purpose of the
conference was to clarify the
academic basis and research
methods and techniques for
the Healthy Cities
programme. More specifically
the aims of the conference
were (1) to demonstrate the
concrete outcome of
employing Healthy Cities
programmes, (2) to elucidate
the methods to analyse
health determinants for
Healthy Cites programmes,
(3) to find ways to share the
profit of urban development,
for Healthy Cities, (4) to
show how to develop
evidence based practice of
Healthy Cities programmes,
(5) to show how to use
than 4000 people
from nearly
300 different
communities
participated,
culminated in
“A Message
to America
from America’s
Communities.”
Based on the results
of the dialogues, Seven
Patterns of a Healthy
Community were determined.
A healthy community:
• practices ongoing dialogue
• generates leadership
everywhere
• shapes its future
• embraces diversity
• knows itself
• connects people and
resources
• creates a sense of
community.
For more information, visit our
web site at: http://
www.healthycommunities.org.
information technology /
telecommunication
technology for Healthy Cities
programmes, and (6) to show
how to carry out Healthy
Cities programmes effectively.
The Conference was opened
by the Dr Shigeru Omi,
Regional Director of WPRO
and Dr Hiroshi Nakajima gave
the speech at the Conference
Banquet. Several WHO
Collaborating Centres relating
to Healthy Cities (Bristol,
Maastricht, Tokyo), as well as
the Chair of the Technical
Working Group on City Health
Profiles (Dr June Crown) made
The U.S. Coalition for
Healthier Cities serves as a
link to resources, a voice for
policy and action and a force
for creating and sustaining
local community initiatives. Its
year 2000 priorities include:
• advancing the message
emerging from the Healthy
Community Agenda
dialogues
• enlarging our states network
(now numbering over 30
states)
• advancing the 100% access
to health care/0% disparities
(by race, ethnicity, etc.)
campaign
• working with media to better
communicate the Healthy
Cities/Healthy communities
message in print and over
the airwaves.
Mr. Norris, now a senior
advisor to the Coalition, can
be contacted at:
E-mail: tnorris@henge.com
presentations. Gejza Legen,
Co-ordinator of Kosice HCP
and the Slovakian National HC
Network participated in a
panel session and a number of
European Healthy Cities and
National Networks were to be
represented by poster
presentations.
Dr Jill Farrington of WHO
European Centre for Urban
Health attended the second
day of the Conference at the
invitation of the organisers in
order to give a presentation
on “WHO European Healthy
Cities network”, with an
emphasis on the designation
procedure and its benefits and
disadvantages. She spoke in
the same session as Dr
Hisashi Ogawa, Regional
Advisor in Environmental
Health, WPRO who coordinates
healthy cities in that
WHO Region.
... continued on page 13

... continued
Dr Hisashi Ogawa gave a
presentation entitled “Healthy
Cities /Settings /Programmes
in the Western Pacific Region
and its research needs”. A
healthy cities workshop had
taken place in October 1999 to
draw up a regional action plan.
They intend to have a
database of healthy cities in
their region and are collecting
information on each city
relating to minimum criteria.
WPRO will also launch a
website relating to Healthy
Cities on World Health Day (7
April 2000). The address will
be: http://www.who.org.ph/.
The outcomes of the
Conference will be published
later in the following formats.
The abstracts of presentations
as well as summaries of the
presentations and greetings
will be published with other
related information in a
summary report in
proceedings format. The
outcomes of the academic
format will be published in a
book. An electronic forum for
networking among people
interested in the topics
discussed at the conference
and related area will be
another outcome.
The contact details are:
Secretariat: Organizing
Committee for the Conference
WHO Collaborating Centre
for Healthy Cities and Urban
Policy Research
Department of Public Health
and Environmental Science,
School of Medicine, Tokyo
Medical and Dental University
Yushima 1-5-45,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8519,
Japan
Tel: +81 3 5803 5190;
Fax: +81 3 3818 7176
E-mail:
whocc.hlth@med.tmd.ac.jp
Resource Profile
WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Cities and
Urban Policy University of the West of England,
Bristol, UK - A resource for healthy cities with the
perspective of the built environment
About the Centre
The WHO Collaborating
Centre for Healthy Cities and
Urban Policy launched in
1997, is formally linked to the
WHO Healthy Cities project in
Copenhagen. It exists to
advise and assist the
European network of healthy
cities, as well as to develop a
programme of relevant
research. It is unusual in
being set within a faculty of
the built environment rather
than a health faculty. It acts
as a resource centre in
connection with healthy
environments, sustainable
development, settlement
planning and urban health
policy, providing a range of
research, consultancy and
training services to public,
private and voluntary sectors
both in Britain and Europe.
The Centre is developing
three key research themes led
by the Executive Director,
Hugh Barton, and the Faculty
Dean, Professor Colin Fudge.
These are:
1) Healthy urban planning
2) Crime, public health and the
built environment
3) Urban design for healthy
environments
Health and Sustainable
Development
Health professionals and
planners can collaborate in
working towards changes
within their localities, and
promoting intersectoral cooperation
and public
participation. In the context of
health and sustainable
development, the theme of
this Newsletter, the
Centre is working on
two forthcoming
publications.
The first is the
production of a
manual aimed at
assisting urban
planners in
implementing
planning policies by
making explicit the
contribution that
planning can make to
health. Hugh Barton
has been collaborating with
colleagues from the University
of Venice and the University
of California in the writing and
collating of material on behalf
of the WHO Healthy Cities
European Office. The draft
[Healthy Urban Planning] has
been co-ordinated and edited
by Claire Mitcham in
Copenhagen, (omit if required
previous sentence) and
followed up by a workshop
with urban planners at a
seminar in Milan in October
1999,who were enthusiastic
about the new material. As
mentioned in Urban Voice
issue 1, the final version
should be published by the
summer 2000.
The second is a new research
project called SHADS
(sustainability, health and
design synthesis) that has
embarked on the production
of the first practice guide on
the topic of healthy
neighbourhoods, building on
the earlier environmental
planning publication
Sustainable Settlements,
written at UWE in 1995. Led
by Marcus Grant, a landscape
architect and urban designer,
the guide seeks to re-establish
the significance of locality and
promote an integrated view of
well-being through addressing
air quality, transport, energy,
health, work, amenity and
education. A Reference
Group comprising participants
from public, private and
voluntary sectors held a first
meeting in November 1999 at
the Southville community
centre in Bristol to discuss the
development of the project,
and will meet again in May
2000.
For further information about
any of these projects, or about
the Centre please contact:
Isobel Daniels;
Tel: +44 (0)117 344 3189;
Fax: +44 (0)117 344 3899;
E-mail:
isobel.daniels@uwe.ac.uk.
Web site: http://
www.uwe.ac.uk/fbe/who
13

14
Hannover 2000
The Third Pan-European Conference of the Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign
A milestone conference
The Hannover 2000
conference, which was held
between 9 th and 12 th February
2000, marked the launch of the
third phase (2000-2004) of the
European Sustainable Cities
and Towns Campaign. This
conference was a milestone in
the development of the
Campaign, which gives
emphasis to political
commitment, capacitybuilding,
information
exchange and networking in
its efforts to fulfill its mission
to encourage and support
European Cities and Towns in
implementing the Aalborg
Charter.
Almost 1350 participants from
local and regional authorities
in 51 countries took part in a
rich programme addressing
the themes of integrated urban
policies for sustainable
development; global versus
local challenges; Local
Agenda 21 action plans; and
managing, monitoring and
evaluating sustainability.
In addition, 250 Mayors from
36 European countries met at a
special Mayor’s convention
to discuss and approve the
Hannover Call, the
Conference’s core political
message to decision-makers
and European cities and
towns. This Convention was
chaired by Christian Ude, Lord
Mayor of Munich and Joan
Clos i Matheu, Mayor of
Barcelona. The patron of the
Convention was Mr Giscard
d’Estaing, President of the
Council of European
Municipalities and Regions
(CEMR). The Hannover Call
is available in English, French
and Italian on the European
Sustainable Cities and Towns
Campaign web-site at http://
www.sustainable-cities.org/
news.html.
Networks strengthen their
partnership and set out a new
strategy
The core tool of the Campaign
is built around a strategic
partnership of five networks/
associations of local
authorities: Council of
European Municipalities and
Regions (CEMR), Eurocities,
International Council of Local
Environmental Initiatives
(ICLEI), United Towns
Organisation (UTO) and
World Health Organisation
(WHO) -Healthy Cities Project
(see box below). A new way
forward for the European
Sustainable Cities and Towns
Campaign was presented by
Dr Agis Tsouros, Head of the
WHO Centre for Urban
Health, on behalf of the
Campaign’s partner networks.
This new strategy strengthens
the existing partnership
between the Campaign’s
coordinating committee and
its sponsor cities (Hannover
and Aalborg) by identifying
common strategic goals,
targets and priorities. This
strategy will be further
developed by the partner
networks in the coming
months.
WHO Healthy Cities at
Hannover 2000
Workshop on Healthy Cities
A special work shop on
Healthy Cities was attended
by approximately 60
participants on February 9.
Case studies were presented
from the Bulgaria, Canada,
Russia, the Ukraine and the
United Kingdom, covering a
range of issues including
Urban Planning, integrated
planning, community
participation and tourism. The
main recommendations of the
workshop focused on placing
more emphasis on health in
the local Agenda 21 process,
and were brought up to the
plenary session:
An overview of the Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign
Dr Agis Tsouros, Head,
Centre for Urban Health,
presents new Campaign
strategy.
n Health should be part of the
process and planning of
local Agenda 21
n Healthy Urban planning
should de considered as a
key tool to influence future
of our cities
n Community involvement is a
prerequisite action and
should be linked to
organisational development.
n Citizens should be at the
centre of concern within
local Agenda 21
n Positive health is an
indicator of sustainability
n The effects of changes on
the health situation should
be measured through proper
monitoring tools.
The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign aims to promote the development of Local Agenda 21 action plans in Europe.
It was launched at the first European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns, which took place in Aalborg, Denmark in 1994.
650 local and regional authorities from 32 countries across Europe have joined the Campaign by signing the Aalborg Charter,
committing themselves to local sustainability and the Campaign. The population covered by all Campaign participants represents
more than 150 million European citizens. In Hannover, 62 new cities joined by signing the Aalborg Charter.
The core strategic tool of the campaign is built around a partnership of the following five Networks/Associations of local
authorities: Eurocities; the Council of European Municipalities & Regions, the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives, the Work Federation of United Cities and WHO-Healthy Cities.
The aims of the Campaign have arisen out of Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 as agreed at the Earth Summit in Rio 1992 and the European
Commission’s Fifth Environmental Action Programme Towards Sustainability. The Campaign forms part of the overall Sustainable
Cities Project. This project is the overall title for the co-operation between the Campaign, the EC Expert Group on the Urban
Environment and the Commission Services (DGXI). The objective of the Campaign is to promote development toward sustainability
through local Agenda 21 processes by strengthening partnership among all actors in the local community as well as inter-authority
co-operation.
Visit the Campaign’s web-site more information on the background and structure of the Campaign http://www.sustainablecities.org/.

Food for Thought – health
and sustainable development
Leah Rothstein of the WHO
Centre for Urban Health gave a
“Food for Thought”
presentation in plenary on 10
February. This presentation
demonstrated the links between
health and sustainable
development with a range of
facts and figures related to the
environmental factors which
affect health. The presentation
also highlighted European
public attitudes towards health
and the environment. A special
example on transport and
health focused on some of the
negative effects of transport on
health and social conditions,
such as air pollution, noise, and
traffic density, with examples
including health care costs, and
social isolation. Positive results
of healthy transport policies in
economic and health terms
were also presented.
Contact Leah Rothstein for
more information at:
Tel: +45 39 17 1460;
Fax: +45 39 17 1860;
E-mail: lro@who.dk
The European Commissioner
responsible for environment
Ms Wallström presented the
launch of the 6 Th
Environmental Programme.
Priorities of the programme
will be to:
n Establish a community
framework for action
initiatives
n Focus on sustainable land
use and develop a good
data base
n Provide measures for
monitoring and evaluating
action at the local level (for
example, noise legislation)
n Continue networking and
exchange of experiences and
ideas.
The Commission’s
contribution to the
improvement of the urban
environment will be
categorized in three broad
categories: legislative
programme; the promotion of
WHO Healthy Cities’ Campaign Partners
CEMR
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) originated from the conviction
that local and regional authorities have a fundamental role to play in the realisation of the
European Union. Today, CEMR brings together more than 100 000 local and regional authorities
in Europe, federated through 40 large national associations of local and regional authorities in 29
countries. http://www.ccre.org
Eurocities
Eurocities is the association of European metropolitan cities. It currently represents 95 cities
from 26 European countries and, through its thematic sub-networks, many more large, mediumsized
and small cities in Europe. The network aims to improve the quality of life of the 80% of
Europeans living in cities and urban areas by influencing the European agenda, and promoting
the exchange of experience and best practice between city governments. http://
www.eurocities.org
ICLEI
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is an association of local
governments dedicated to the prevention and solution of local, regional, and global
environmental problems through local action. Over 300 cities, towns, counties, and their
associations from around the world are Members of the Council. http://www.iclei.org/
UTO
The World Federation of United Cities (UTO – formerly United Towns Organization) is an
organization of 1500 local and regional authorities which is present in over 80 countries. UTO
works for the unified and concerted expression of organizations of local authorities guided by
the objectives of autonomy, democracy and development. Email for more information at
cities.unies@wanadoo.fr.
Commissioner Margot Wallstrøm visiting one of the 70 exhibitions at
the Hannover Conference
innovation and exchange of
ideas and experiences
(Sustainable Cities Project);
and a substantial contribution
to positive investments from
the structural and cohesion
funds. 600 million ECU was
allocated for the 1994-1999
period for urban initiatives
through the Community
initiative known as URBAN.
A Commission communication
on Waste Strategy was also
launched as well as a
programme of assistance to
the cities of East and Central
Europe. Noise legislation will
be implemented and initiatives
like the European Car Free
Day will continue.
How to get more
information
More information on the
outcomes of the
Hannover Conference
2000 is available on the
Conference web-site at
http://www.hannover.de/
deutsch/politik/pol_land/
han_conf.htm.
The city of Hannover in
cooperation with ICLEI is
producing the report of
the conference. It is
intended that the
outcomes of the
Hannover Conference
2000 will feed into the
upcoming World EXPO
2000 events. The EXPO
2000 is set to take place in
Hannover from 1 June to
31 October 2000 (http://
www.expo.hannover.de/).
15

16
May
17-19
2nd World Competitive Cities
Congress: Washington, USA
Tel: +1-212/869-7567 ext.15;
Fax: +1-212/869-7414;
E-mail:m.locke@worldcongress.com;
Website: http://
www.worldcongress.com
19
The Millennium Day of Dance.
Tel: + +353 1 8722278/9;
E-mail: dhcp@indigo.ie
28
Arts and Health Conference -
Dublin Castle, Ireland.
Tel: +353 1 8722 278/9;
E-mail: dhcp@indigo.ie.
June
5-6
Network of European National
Healthy Cities Networks
Business Meeting, Vejle,
Denmark.
Tel: +45 74 45 39 80;
E-mail: ani@who.dk.
7-10
Phase III WHO Healthy Cities
Network Business Meeting,
Horsens, Denmark.
Tel: +45 75 61 48 00;
E-mail: cop@who.dk.
7 -9
Mobicity 2000:International
Urban Mobility Show: Paris,
France.
Tel: 00-33-1/53-57-62-06;
Fax: 00-33-1/53-57-62-07;
E-mail: mobicity@mobility-net.com
Website: http://www.mobilitynet.com/mobicity
8-9
The Annual Business Meeting of
German Healthy Cities Network:
Health as Locational Factor.
Osnabrück, Germany.
Tel: +49 54 13 23 44 58;
E-mail: OSGesund@uos.de;
Website: http://
www.osnabrück.de/health2000
18-22
2nd International Urban
Environmental Infrastructure
Forum: Salt Lake City, U.S.
Tel: +1/412/232-3444;
Fax: +1/412/232-3450;
E-mail: mroy@awma.org
Website: http://www.awma.org
18-23
The City Region in a World of
Globalisation: Urban Promotion
for Sustainable Development:
Bergen, Norway
Tel: +31-70-324 45 26;
Fax: +31-70-328 07 27;
E-mail: intainfo@inta-aivn.org
Events 2000:
24-27
International Conference,
Mobility - Challenge of the 21st
Century: Bremen, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)421 - 230011 0;
Fax: +49 (0)421 - 230011 18;
E-mail: conference2000@bremennitiative.de;
Website: http://www.bremeninitiative.de/conf2000
28/6-2/7
Global Cities21, ICLEI World
Congress of Local Government
transformation for a sustainable
future, Sachen-Anhalt, Germany.
Tel: +49-761/3 68 92 20;
E-mail: world.congress@iclei.org;
Website: http://www.iclei.org/gc21.
July
1-16
Motovun Summer School of
Health Promotion, Motovun,
Croatia.
Tel: +385/1/46 84 440;
E-mail: ssgoric@snz.hr
4-6
Urban 21 – Global Conference on
the Urban Future, Berlin,
Germany.
E-mail: info@urban21.de;
Website: http://www.urban21.de.
10-14
Urban Futures Conference 2000:
Johannesburg, South Africa.
E-mail:
Stephenson@egoli.min.wits.ac.za;
Website: http://sunsite.wits.ac.za/
urbanfutures
26-28
Urban Transport 2000: 6th
International Conference on
Urban Transport and the
Environment for the 21st
Century, New Hall College,
Cambridge University, UK.
Tel: 44 (0) 23 80 293223;
E-mail: wit@wessex.ac.uk
August
17-19
International Conference on
Sustainable Energy and
Environment: Mumbai, India
Tel: 91-22/204 5758;
Fax: 91-22/287 1250;
E-mail: iisfb@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in
September
4-6
Universities, Colleges and
Sustainable Health: A 21st
Century Investment, Preston,
United Kingdom
E-mail: e.j.kelly@uclan.ac.uk
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/
business_services/conf/hpu/
hpu.htm
10-13
IFHP 2000 Congress ‘Urban
Networks’: Rotterdam, the
Netherlands
Tel: +31-0-10/489 69 99;
Fax: +31-0-10/489 71 36.
18-19
Call for papers and Workshops:
Public Health Policy – milestones
and millstones, University of
Nottingham, UK.
Tel: 0151-231-4283;
E-mail: ukhfan@livjm.ac.uk.
22
European day: “In town, without
my car“
Website: http://
www.22september.org/
27-29
Reducing Inequalities in Health,
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tel: +45 45 76 17 01;
E-mail: conference@topcon.dk;
Website: http://www.inequalitiescopenhagen.dk
October
12-13
European Conference on
Sustainable Development - SMEs
and New Enterprises European
Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working
Conditions, Dublin.
Tel: 353-1-2043172;
E-mail: sarah.farrel@eurofound.ie
18-20
Euro Environment 2000: Visions,
strategies and actions towards
sustainable industries: Aalborg,
Denmark
Tel: +45-99 35 55 55;
Fax: +45 99 35 55 80;
E-mail: euro@akkc.dk
Website: http://www.akkc.dk/
enviornment
For short descriptions of these
events, please see the Healthy
Cities website:
http://www.who.dk/healthycities/calendar.htm
Urban Voice
Centre for Urban Health
World Health Organization
Regional Office for Europe
Scherfigsvej 8
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel: +45 39 17 12 24
Fax: +45 39 17 18 60
Website:www.who.dk/healthycities/
Editorial
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jill Farrington
JOINT EDITORS
Nigel Bruce, Leah Rothstein
EDITORIAL BOARD
Nigel Bruce
Knud Bragh Matzon
Jill Farrington
Anne Mette Nielsen
Bente Persson
Leah Rothstein
Reporting and Research
Nigel Bruce
Flemming Holm
Vibeke Juul
Bo Borg Mikkelsen
Leah Rothstein
Contributers to this Issue
Nigel Bruce
Isobel Daniels
Pierre Dubé
Jill Farrington
Flemming Holm
Vibeke Juul
Anne Mette Nielsen
Tyler Norris
Leah Rothstein
Annette Sabouraud
Network of
Correspondents
A network of correspondents
is being established to provide
support and insight into the
production of the newsletter.
The members of this network
will be listed here in the future.
For more information about the
network, contact Bo Borg
Mikkelsen at Tel: +45 75 60 21
82; Fax: +45 75 62 80 60; Email:urbanvoice@mail.tele.dk
Layout and Design
Bo Borg Mikkelsen
Anne Mette Nielsen
Kompagniet A/S, Horsens
Photos
City of Hannover
Andreas Lilienthal
City of Kuressaare
City of Sandnes
WHO Centre for Urban Health
Published by the WHO Centre for
Urban Health with the technical
support of the WHO Collaborating
Centre, Horsens (Denmark). The
newsletter is funded through the
financial contributions of the
Phase III (1998-2002) WHO
Healthy Cities network, the WHO
Collaborating Centre, Horsens
(Denmark), the city of Horsens
and Helsefonden, Denmark.
Comments on the newsletter
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Mikkelsen at Tel: +45 75 60 21 82;
Fax: +45 75 62 80 60;
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The views expressed in the
Urban Voice are those of the
authors alone and not necessarily
those of the World Health
Organization, Regional Office for
Europe, Centre for Urban Health.