ICUH 2024: A Healthier Horizon: Activating Urban Health Strategies for a Climate

We delve into a proven Urban Health Strategy designed to foster a Climate Resilient Tomorrow. This strategy, based on 20 years of successful implementation of Zero-Waste “Food Energy Water Nexus” solutions in Cairo, Egypt, and the favelas of Brazil, focuses on community-scale biodigesters and infrastructure.

Workshop Objectives:

1. Local Solutions with Global Impact:
   • Explore the implementation of participatory household and community biodigesters.
   • Understand how solutions tailored to local needs can be shared and adapted globally.
2. Workshop Activities:
   • Interactive Demonstrations:
     • Construct a mini-biodigester and explore its applications and benefits.
     • Discuss the impact of urban biodigesters on health by reducing indoor air pollution, eliminating odors, and controlling disease vectors.
     • Hands-on Learning:
       • Build a Solar CITIES’ biodigester using a 5-gallon water jug.
       • Analyze the historical and practical aspects of Schumacher’s “small is beautiful” concept.
   • Case Studies:
     • Review successful implementations, such as the biodigester in Vale Encantado favela, and understand the factors that led to its success.
     • Analyze failures, such as the biodigester in Baghdad, to learn from past mistakes and improve future projects.
   • Multimedia Presentations:
     • Share slides and videos from over 15 years of building FEW Nexus/Zero Waste technologies in urban environments.
     • Encourage discussion on local actions' successes and failures, and how global sharing has influenced outcomes.
3. Critical Examination of Global Mantras:
   • Discuss the limitations of the “Think Globally, Act Locally” mantra.
   • Address the importance of local wisdom and cultural nuances in sustainable development.
4. Technological and Cultural Adaptation:
   1. Examine the role of bricolage and the tinkerer mindset in urban solutions.
   2. Evaluate the benefits and challenges of DIY approaches versus scaling technologies.
5. Expected Outcomes:

Participants will gain practical skills in building biodigesters, a deeper understanding of the importance of local adaptations in sustainable development, and insights into scaling and sharing technologies globally. The workshop aims to activate community involvement and inspire participants to implement and advocate for climate-resilient urban health strategies in their regions.

Enjoy a break with coffee and tea provided by our local catering partners, Amal Nonprofit.

Addisu Shewamoltot, Megan Williams
53 The impact of water availability on menstrual health among urban poor in the face of climate change

Aggrey Thuo
45 Integrating nature-based interventions in planning for managing urban health challenges in Kisumu city, Kenya

Alexander Tully
151 From the Inside Out: Shaping Climate-Resilient and Adaptable Spaces through Transforming Professional Ecosystems

Alex Quistberg
296 Poster Presentations Brief Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Collecting Data on Urban Environment for Climate Change and Health Research in Low-Resource Settings

Ana Paula Seraphim
226 Urban Health Ecosystem Services Provision and Its Relationship to the Surrounding Built Environment: A Case Study of Greater London

Andres Useche
140 Designing an Agent-Based Model to Investigate Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Diet

Angela Freitas
252 From data to action: The Healthy Municipalities Atlas as a tool for informed urban policy

Ashok Raisinghani
60 Empowering Urban Communities: Promoting Solar-Powered Urban Health Centers, Emergency Response Services, and RBSK under the USAID-funded Asia Resilient Cities Project in Rajkot, India

Astrid Nédée
34, Visual attention towards building façades in the most energy vulnerable neighbourhoods in Madrid and the relaxing effect of visual coherence

Belen Zapata-Diomedi
59 Modelling environmental exposures and health impacts of built environment scenarios using an agent-based modelling framework: case studies from Australia and United Kingdom

Comfort Ogunleye-Adetona
197 Assessing Residents’ Perception of Urban Air Pollution in Accra Metropolis, Ghana

Dustin Fry
180 Health effects of a vacant lot remediation program on a representative sample of older adults in Philadelphia

Elis Borde
228 Climate Change and Urban Food Insecurity: Insights from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Eunjeong Kang
218 Development of assessment items for climate change Health Impact Assessment in local governments

Fatema Kashfi
62 Navigating Strategic Purchasing for Equitable Urban Primary Healthcare in Bangladesh: Facilitators and Barriers in the Current Arrangements

Federica Montana
306 Poster Presentations Healthy Urban Design Index (HUDI): How to promote health and environmental quality in European Cities

Iqbal Hossain
137 Understanding usability and gaps of the Urban Immunization Toolkit: A Human Centered Design approach conducted in two states of Nigeria

Johanna Martinez, Ines vanBoom, Shari Jardine
251 Moving Beyond Climate Resiliency to Climate Justice, Locally and Globally

Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin
150 Health Vulnerability from Heat Waves, Adaptation, and Solutions in Dhaka City Using Validation through Ground Truthing of Satellite Imageries and Qualitative Insights: A Study Protocol

Maliha Khan Majlish
127 Gender Based Violence and its Mental Health Consequences among Urban Women in Bangladesh

Natasha Sharma, Sandra Alexander
238 Toward hope as Practice - Reflections on Transforming a Marginalised Neighborhood through Youth-led Arts

Annabel Nyole, Daphne Randall, Naserian Saruni
240 The root and the vaccine of city - African youth as catalyst for urban vitality and well-being

Maria Jose Palacio, Mohamed Salheen
220 Bridging Knowledge: A Multidisciplinary Method to Measure Urban Health and Well-being

Margub Margub Aref Jahangir
204 UNICEF’s piloting of Model Urban PHC clinics project: A small initiative to handle environmental factors affecting chronic and infectious diseases in targeted urban community.

Mayank Shersiy
102 Strengthening Resilient Urban Health System: Insights from Capacity Assessment and Training Initiatives in Indian Cities

Mohammad Zahirul Islam
111 Coping Strategy and Practice for Securing Household Food and Nutrition for the Climate Emergency Situation

Ndack Diop
200 Using the Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool (WASH-FIT) for Health Systems Strengthening in Dakar

Pallavi Pant
215 OpenAQ: Making Global Air Quality Data Accessible, Interpretable and Actionable for Healthier Cities

Rebecca A Reid
91 Associations between neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and psychological distress among urban Australian adults: longitudinal analysis of the HILDA Survey (2007-2021)

Saiara Lamia Sarah, Farhana Afroz, Utpal Kumar Das
83 Psychological Impact of Cyclone Remal on Children in Coastal Areas: A Qualitative Study in Khulna, Bangladesh

Sangeeta Goel, Kim Martin
9 Local Governments that Graduate from TCI Show Promising Signs of Institutionalization and Sustainability

Sasha Khomenko
92 Health burden and inequities of urban environmental stressors in Sofia, Bulgaria

Sasha Khomenko
93 From urban health research to policy-making: insights from stakeholder consultations in four European cities

Shahin Akter
121 Assessment of the User and Provider Perspectives of Urban Primary Health Care Service Delivery for Nutritional Mainstreaming Initiative in Bangladesh

Fernando Ortega, Shari Jardine
258 Poster Presentations Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Resiliency and Action

Suman Singh
166 Spatial pattern of Climatic Exposure and Multidimensional Poverty in districts of India

Swati Mahajan
71 Hyperlocal Interventions and Strategies for Climate Resilient Healthcare Facilities, Workplaces and Communities: Case Study from India

Syed Ayub Qutub
231 impact of prolonged muggy weather on urban well being and measures to ameliorate: a case study of 2024 Karachi heat wave

Tamara Lungman
106 Co-benefits of nature-based solutions: a health impact assessment of the Barcelona Green Corridor (Eixos Verds) Plan

Waleska Caiaffa
242 Inequalities in self-rated health among Brazilian older adults (50+): evidence from Elsi-Urbe study

Weronika Gasior
153 Green care for mental health: equity and its main players. Analysis of stakeholders & insights from the GreenME project.

Yan Wu
120 Public participation in low-carbon city transition——An Exploration of Millenials’ low-carbon behaviour, a case study in China

Zakaria Oulad
260 Poster Presentations Elevating Urban Health through Quality of Life initiatives in emerging cities

12:00pm - 12:15pm — Monica Swahn
229 Climate Change Anxiety among Young Women Living in Urban Slums in Kampala Uganda: Findings from the TOPOWA Study

12:15pm - 12:30pm — Alex Quistberg
295 Community Engagement and Artificial Intelligence to Understand Health Impacts of Climate Change in Informal Settlements

12:30pm - 12:45pm — Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin
29 Harnessing Public Engagement for Catalyzing Change: Addressing Waste-Induced Waterlogging Mitigation in Dhaka City

 12:45pm - 13:00pm —  

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practical approach used to showcase and judge the potential health impacts of a policy, program or project on a population, and the distribution of those impacts within the population. In recent years, the prevalence of HIA studies and initiatives related to urban and transport planning policies has seen a large increase. This symposium aims to bring together diverse HIA projects to exchange insights along a shared framework, encompassing the definition of the study context and policies, modeling approach and methods, and translation of outputs and findings.


We will first present six ongoing HIA projects. We will begin with the presentation of results of large-scale European, African and South American city urban planning, environmental quality and transport scenario HIAs. We will continue with general reflections of how to integrate health and transport modeling through HIA approaches and will address identified gaps. Then we will downscale to a local European city context and present HIA results of a new citizen-centric urban model (Superblocks) and the experience of translating HIA findings into policy and practice. After the presentations, the symposium will explore the opportunities, challenges, and limitations of advancing the integration of quantitative HIA approaches into decision-making processes. The discussion will center around the topics of:

• How to advance HIA approaches and methodologies, overcome current limitations and address data gaps? 
• What are the most promising strategies for enhancing the relevance and usefulness of HIA outputs for policy and decision-making?

Overall, the symposium will underscore the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering engagement among researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders to enrich discussions surrounding HIA implementation.

Urban health (UH) is defined as the multidimensional and multilevel state of human health within, and in relationship to, urban environments (Urban Public Health: A Research Toolkit for Practice and Impact, 2020). UH and urbanization (i.e., growth of population in an urban area) can encompass multiple determinants (e.g., climate change, the built environment, health care systems, and individual choices) and health outcomes (e.g., physical, mental, financial, etc.) shaped by population demographic and geographic location. This exploratory workshop, facilitated by members of Kean University’s urban health institute (UHI) working group, seeks to 1) understand how global leaders from various sectors (i.e., non-profit, academic, governmental) conceptualize UH within their changing climate, and 2) identify common trends (i.e., disease prevalence, quality of life, and disaster vulnerability), best practices, and policies that create opportunities for UH promotion and environmental sustainability. This session also provides a pre-workshop digital survey, available to all ICUH conference participants to 1) assess their environments (i.e., neighborhood, state, county) for indicators of good and poor health, and 2) define UH from their perspective and discipline. Survey items include, but are not limited to, natural disaster vulnerability, quality of life, restorative health measures, and structural safety. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Survey results will guide group discussions, during the workshop, which will be centered on climate change and defining UH from a global perspective. The end goal of Kean’s UHI is to publish workshop and survey findings in academic journals and white papers reports. Results will also be shared to the ICUH for member distribution.


Kean University, located in New Jersey, USA, is planning to establish an institute for urban health research, education, and community engagement. The mission of Kean’s urban health institute will be to 1) train the next generation of urban health practitioners and health management leaders; 2) create and maintain an environment of rigorous scholarship, thought leadership, and innovation in public health policy and research with an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies; and 3) build communities of practice exemplifying our commitment to equity, inclusivity, dialogue, and belonging.

Increasing urban density and loss of open spaces are challenging city resilience, necessitating the use of urban porosity to manage water absorption, social crises, and environmental disasters. Extreme weather, intensified by climate change, brings significant water-related challenges, including floods and droughts, to urban areas. These conditions particularly affect the elderly, who may face greater vulnerability due to mobility issues, health concerns, and restricted access to urban amenities.


This workshop includes sponge city strategies to design small leftover spaces, aiming to align design with public preferences. Previously, these strategies have been tested in flood-prone areas, with less focus on drought conditions. This session, part of a broader research initiative, explores integrating green, blue, and green-blue strategies into urban design to enhance resilience and livability in extreme climates. It specifically studies perceptions of these strategies in climates with both excess and scarcity of water. The results can contribute to air quality, pollution reduction, and respiratory health, particularly in urban heat islands.


Prioritizing water-related strategies and focusing on elderly people as a vulnerable population, this workshop aligns with the theme of building climate-resilient and adaptable urban environments. Designing urban spaces to meet the needs and preferences of all ages, especially the elderly, encourages their participation in open spaces and social events, thus improving their mental and physical health.


The workshop aims to develop and assess sponge city design strategies for transforming small-scale leftover areas into resilient cities by considering the preferences and needs of citizens, especially the elderly population. It addresses the main research question: How can sponge city design interventions consider age-friendly cities, particularly elderly needs?
Interactive activities will include understanding participants' familiarity with sponge city concepts and their preferences for urban spaces. Participants will also create collages to express their preferred design elements, offering both emotional and practical feedback on urban redesigns. The expected outcomes are detailed insights into the perceptions of elderly participants and actionable recommendations to boost urban resilience and age-friendliness.


Aligned with the ICUH 2024 focus on climate-resilient urban health, this proposal seeks to contribute to the practical strategies for creating sustainable, age-friendly environments.

The workshop is designed to equip urban planners, public health professionals, and other stakeholders with the methodologies and tools needed for conducting Rapid Health Impact Assessments (Rapid HIA) specifically tailored to urban renewal policies and projects. Rapid HIA is a streamlined approach to health impact assessments that allows for quick yet comprehensive evaluations of health impacts in fast-paced planning environments. This method is crucial for ensuring that health considerations are integrated into urban renewal projects without delaying the planning process.


Urban renewal projects have the potential to significantly influence community health by altering living environments, access to services, and social dynamics. However, these projects often proceed without adequately considering their health impacts, leading to unintended negative consequences. Given the increasing pressures of climate change, it is essential to incorporate health assessments into urban planning to create resilient and adaptable urban environments. Rapid HIA supports the development of climate-resilient urban environments by identifying potential health risks and opportunities early in the planning process, allowing for proactive mitigation and adaptation measures. By using Rapid HIA, planners can swiftly evaluate health impacts, ensuring that urban renewal projects contribute to healthier, more sustainable communities.


Participants will dive into the practicalities of conducting Rapid HIA in the context of urban renewal. The workshop will outline the streamlined approaches necessary for quick yet thorough health evaluations in dynamic urban settings. Key topics will include methods for gathering and assessing relevant health data and strategies for involving community members and other stakeholders within short time frames to ensure comprehensive and inclusive assessments.


The workshop will be highly interactive, featuring group discussions and hands-on exercises. Attendees will work through practical activities designed to simulate real-world scenarios, gaining hands-on knowledge of tools and techniques that ensure health considerations are swiftly and effectively integrated into urban planning processes. These activities will demonstrate how Rapid HIA can mitigate negative health impacts and enhance community well-being. By the end of the workshop, participants will be prepared to start applying Rapid HIA principles and methodologies to real-world projects and policy decisions, contributing to the development of healthier, more sustainable, and climate-resilient urban environments.

Join RWJF’s Karabi Acharya for a participatory session to surface emerging trends at the intersection of urban health, equity and climate.

Come and enjoy a locally sourced, healthful lunch provided by Amal and served in true Moroccan fashion in our Agora area.

The Africa Urban Health Community of Practice (CoP), a partnership between UrbanBetter Academy and the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH), brings together scholarly, government, non-governmental, private sector and community-based actors in/of the African continent to promote action-oriented knowledge generation anchored in policy and practice to advance urban health and promote health equity in the region. 

Our overall goal is to contribute to building a critical mass of urban health researchers and practitioners in Africa, with the aim to promote an “Africa-first” approach to urban health issues.

The goal of this networking lunch session is to introduce delegates to the community, share past activities and plans for the next year and to grow the community encouraging urban health professionals in/of Africa to join the community of practice and actively participate in activities in the year ahead.

This interactive workshop focuses on assessing the relationship between the way our urban environments are designed and community food systems. Alongside various communities, Gehl and Cities for Better Health have co-created an approach and suite of tools, designed to assess the quality of the built environment and its influence on food behaviours. The tools allow users to record observations on the relationship between urban design and food habits, offering insights into how public space design and maintenance impact public health and climate readiness of our urban food systems.

The two-part workshop will begin with attendees participating in a field exercise in Marrakesh. Learning from a city of souks, participants will have a chance to explore and map the local food environment, investigating how elements of the built environment either support or hinder activities and behaviours of a healthy food system and a climate-resilient environment. This hands-on activity aims to illustrate the tools’ utility in real-world settings and set the frame for a feedback and sharing session between the workshop participants and the practitioners at Gehl and Cities for Better Health, who are always evolving and adapting the tool to better service projects that leverage the built environment as a vehicle for community and planetary health.

The second part of the workshop, will convene on the following day and introduce some of the urban conditions that underpin the food system's ability to support community and planetary health such as environmental conditions (WaSH) necessary for healthy routines, co-location of food places and transportation hubs, and how the public realm can support local economic growth — an essential component of furthering health equity in cities. Supported by case studies, we will demonstrate how the tools have been used in various contexts to tailor preventative health interventions to a community’s unique opportunities, challenges, and climates. 

There will also be space for reflecting on the participants hands-on experience of using the tools in the field from the previous day - and how they may be applied in their work.

Participants will be sent material ahead of arriving in Marrakesh, with introductory materials to the approach and tools, including a short reflection exercise to conduct in their own local context.

As the devastating impacts of climate change on physical health become more apparent, the mental health consequences often remain overlooked. This session will shed light on the psychological effects of climate change, including stress, trauma from extreme weather events, economic disruption, isolation, and longer-term anxieties. The focus will include the critical impacts on children’s mental health and their vulnerability to environmental stressors. Panelists will discuss how climate change uniquely affects children's well-being, both psychologically and physically, and the urgent need for mental health services tailored to young populations. We’ll hear from policy experts, researchers, and practitioners working with communities to mitigate these impacts, emphasizing the importance of building resilience, especially for future generations.

Urban Health Project of the German National Academy LEOPOLDINA with the InterAcademy Partnership IAP

Enjoy a break with coffee and tea provided by our local catering partners, Amal Nonprofit.

Each year, millions of people die early, and many more live with debilitating chronic diseases because of breathing polluted air. In 2021, air pollution accounted for 8.1 million deaths globally, becoming the second leading risk factor for death, including for children under five years. Join us for an insightful discussion on the latest trends in air quality and health impacts, drawing from the 2024 State of Global Air report.

This special session brings together young leaders and early-career delegates from across Africa, where youth make up the largest demographic. With 70% of sub-Saharan Africa's population under the age of 30, and projections showing that by 2030, young Africans will make up 42% of the world’s youth, this generation plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthier, more resilient cities. Through interactive formats, participants will share their perspectives, explore urban health and climate challenges, and collaborate on innovative solutions. Attendees will not only learn from these inspiring youth representatives but also engage in global exchanges that highlight the opportunities and challenges of harnessing the potential of Africa’s growing youth population to drive positive change.

15:30pm - 15:45pm — James Woodcock
66 Modelling the impact of built environment scenarios on multi-dimensional travel behaviours using a spatially detailed agent-based modelling framework: case studies from Australia and United Kingdom

15:45pm - 16:00pm — Carolina Garcés-Murillo
282 Towards understanding the determinants of Urban Malaria in three cities of the Colombian Pacific.

16:00pm - 16:15pm — Dennis Musyoka
94 Determinants of Household Microbial Water Quality in Urban Informal Settlements

16:15pm - 16:30pm — Suman Singh
170 Pattern and Association of Climatic Exposure and Disease in Districts of India

16:30pm - 16:45pm — Mr. Sourav Dey M.Phil.
190, Assessing the Childhood Nutritional Differential in India: an illustration using Foster Greer Thorbecke criterion

16:45pm - 17:00pm — Ana Paula Seraphim
226 Urban Health Ecosystem Services Provision and Its Relationship to the Surrounding Built Environment: A Case Study of Greater London

The panel discussion will spotlight Agadir’s innovative urban development strategies focused on enhancing climate resilience. A key initiative involves transforming underutilized dry riverbeds into vibrant green corridors that integrate greenery, leisure areas, sports fields, and kiosks. This transformation not only stimulates local economies but also promotes healthier lifestyles among citizens by providing accessible recreational spaces.


The session will explore how these green corridors serve a dual purpose: addressing immediate environmental challenges and contributing to long-term health, resilience, and sustainability. The conversion aims to improve urban air quality, create safe recreational spaces, and mitigate urban heat island effects, thereby enhancing the mental and physical well-being of Agadir’s residents.


Objectives include showcasing urban renewal projects as tools for enhancing public health and climate resilience, with Agadir’s urban forests, parks, and green corridors as a compelling case study. This effort aligns with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).
The discussion will emphasize the direct impact of these urban transformations on public health, community engagement, and local economies. Innovative aspects of the project will highlight its sustainable urban design approach, repurposing neglected areas into thriving public spaces that support economic growth, environmental sustainability, and public health.


Key topics to be covered include the health benefits of increasing accessible green spaces in urban environments, the economic and social advantages of developing green corridors, and the importance of community engagement in designing spaces that promote active lifestyles and meet residents' needs.

The workshop will mix elements of a panel discussion with an interactive format for triggering active discussion and contributions by the participants.


It will start with a short presentation on the key messages of a WHO project on urban planning and design opportunities to strengthen urban resilience, aiming at policy-makers as well as local practitioners.


Two project partners will then focus on climate-related resilience aspects and present selected insights on how urban planning and design can improve urban resilience to extreme weather events, derived from 1) an evidence review on urban planning and resilience, and 2) a city survey on local experiences and lessons learned with disasters.
After the opening presentations, the interactive part of the session will ask questions to the audience regarding their experiences and views on the potential to create more resilient cities through means of urban planning. For each question, various participants will be asked to provide a quick statement on their perspective.


The questions will aim to compile local experiences and lessons learned, and identify what planning and design interventions have been found to be effective. Throughout the discussion, it is expected that four to five questions can be covered, with a focus on climate-related resilience aspects in urban settings.
Participants are expected to leave the session with some insights and reflections on
a) the overall impact of urban design on (climate) resilience and
b) potential planning and design solutions at city scale.

Learn to apply a transdisciplinary systems thinking method to collaborate across sectors for healthier urban food systems. Our current urban food systems are linked to multiple challenges of human and planetary health such as obesity, malnutrition, desertification, loss of biodiversity and climate change. Thus, rethinking our urban food systems can improve urban and planetary health. The relationships between urban food systems, health, and climate resilience are complex and multi-sectoral. However, the various professions involved in shaping urban food systems commonly approach these challenges with their own paradigms and disciplinary views. This workshop enables participants to cross disciplinary boundaries, fostering collaboration for more resilient urban food systems. Participants will learn and apply a systems thinking method to recognise the complex interrelationships between the ecosystem, urban food systems and health.


Learning objectives 

After this workshop, participants should be able to understand the following:

• The complex interrelationships of urban food systems
• The value of systems thinking approaches for urban health and climate resilience 
• The basic ecological cycle that underlies our food systems 

Expected outcomes

Through working only with small parts of a complex urban food system - which is impossible to grasp in its entirety - participants will learn to appreciate the vast interconnectedness of elements and the importance of the ecological cycle. This workshop aims to provide a general overview of ‘the urban food system’ to equip participants with an understanding of its complexity and the value of systems thinking to grapple with this complexity without oversimplifying or feeling overwhelmed. Through this workshop, the need to further efforts in intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration is shown. A direct output of the workshop will be the diverse system diagrams which will be distributed and published after the conference. Only by engaging diverse actors with different viewpoints and experiences do we have a chance to appreciate urban food systems in more holistic ways and shape them towards better health for people and planet.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) aims to co-produce knowledge with marginalised people in order to challenge and transform material, relational and epistemic inequities. People living in urban informal settlements and other marginalised urban groups face multiple spatial, social and economic vulnerabilities to the health impacts of climate change, including barriers to accessing health promoting services. They often lack opportunities to communicate their needs to and demand rights from health systems planners and providers due to social and political distance, stereotyping and discrimination. Supporting marginalised people to analyse and communicate their own realities, and to promote trusting and respectful communication with governance stakeholders is an important strategy to tackle this exclusion and promote transformative, community-led action for climate resilience and health equity. CBPR encompasses values, processes and tools to facilitate these efforts.


We will create a space for sharing, discussion and practice that aims to:

1. Share principles and practical lessons from applications of CBPR drawing on a 5-year programme working with urban marginalised people in four countries (Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Sierra Leone) and further emergent research on co-producing initiatives to improve health service responsiveness to extreme weather events (Urban SHADE)
2. Provide a framework for discussion of experiences of CBPR in diverse contexts, including social, economic political and community characteristics
3. Offer opportunities for participants to practice using tools and approaches

After a 10 minute introduction, participants will have the opportunity to join a 25 minute session at one of the three stations (see below) which will run twice simultaneously. In each station, presenters will share their experience of using a CBPR tool in a specific setting. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences. Presenters will then facilitate a session which practices or discusses using the approach.
· Station 1: Assessing and strengthening governance stakeholder relationships to promote action using Venn diagramming
· Station 2: Approaches for working with very marginalised groups using Photovoice and participatory video.
· Station 3: Using quantitative surveys within CBPR.

Enjoy a break with coffee and tea provided by our local catering partners, Amal Nonprofit.

Addisu Shewamoltot, Megan Williams
53 The impact of water availability on menstrual health among urban poor in the face of climate change

Aggrey Thuo
45 Integrating nature-based interventions in planning for managing urban health challenges in Kisumu city, Kenya

Alexander Tully
151 From the Inside Out: Shaping Climate-Resilient and Adaptable Spaces through Transforming Professional Ecosystems

Alex Quistberg
296 Poster Presentations Brief Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Collecting Data on Urban Environment for Climate Change and Health Research in Low-Resource Settings

Ana Paula Seraphim
226 Urban Health Ecosystem Services Provision and Its Relationship to the Surrounding Built Environment: A Case Study of Greater London

Andres Useche
140 Designing an Agent-Based Model to Investigate Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Diet

Angela Freitas
252 From data to action: The Healthy Municipalities Atlas as a tool for informed urban policy

Ashok Raisinghani
60 Empowering Urban Communities: Promoting Solar-Powered Urban Health Centers, Emergency Response Services, and RBSK under the USAID-funded Asia Resilient Cities Project in Rajkot, India

Astrid Nédée
34, Visual attention towards building façades in the most energy vulnerable neighbourhoods in Madrid and the relaxing effect of visual coherence

Belen Zapata-Diomedi
59 Modelling environmental exposures and health impacts of built environment scenarios using an agent-based modelling framework: case studies from Australia and United Kingdom

Comfort Ogunleye-Adetona
197 Assessing Residents’ Perception of Urban Air Pollution in Accra Metropolis, Ghana

Dustin Fry
180 Health effects of a vacant lot remediation program on a representative sample of older adults in Philadelphia

Elis Borde
228 Climate Change and Urban Food Insecurity: Insights from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Eunjeong Kang
218 Development of assessment items for climate change Health Impact Assessment in local governments

Fatema Kashfi
62 Navigating Strategic Purchasing for Equitable Urban Primary Healthcare in Bangladesh: Facilitators and Barriers in the Current Arrangements

Federica Montana
306 Poster Presentations Healthy Urban Design Index (HUDI): How to promote health and environmental quality in European Cities

Iqbal Hossain
137 Understanding usability and gaps of the Urban Immunization Toolkit: A Human Centered Design approach conducted in two states of Nigeria

Johanna Martinez, Ines vanBoom, Shari Jardine
251 Moving Beyond Climate Resiliency to Climate Justice, Locally and Globally

Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin
150 Health Vulnerability from Heat Waves, Adaptation, and Solutions in Dhaka City Using Validation through Ground Truthing of Satellite Imageries and Qualitative Insights: A Study Protocol

Maliha Khan Majlish
127 Gender Based Violence and its Mental Health Consequences among Urban Women in Bangladesh

Natasha Sharma, Sandra Alexander
238 Toward hope as Practice - Reflections on Transforming a Marginalised Neighborhood through Youth-led Arts

Annabel Nyole, Daphne Randall, Naserian Saruni
240 The root and the vaccine of city - African youth as catalyst for urban vitality and well-being

Maria Jose Palacio, Mohamed Salheen
220 Bridging Knowledge: A Multidisciplinary Method to Measure Urban Health and Well-being

Margub Margub Aref Jahangir
204 UNICEF’s piloting of Model Urban PHC clinics project: A small initiative to handle environmental factors affecting chronic and infectious diseases in targeted urban community.

Mayank Shersiy
102 Strengthening Resilient Urban Health System: Insights from Capacity Assessment and Training Initiatives in Indian Cities

Mohammad Zahirul Islam
111 Coping Strategy and Practice for Securing Household Food and Nutrition for the Climate Emergency Situation

Ndack Diop
200 Using the Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool (WASH-FIT) for Health Systems Strengthening in Dakar

Pallavi Pant
215 OpenAQ: Making Global Air Quality Data Accessible, Interpretable and Actionable for Healthier Cities

Rebecca A Reid
91 Associations between neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and psychological distress among urban Australian adults: longitudinal analysis of the HILDA Survey (2007-2021)

Saiara Lamia Sarah, Farhana Afroz, Utpal Kumar Das
83 Psychological Impact of Cyclone Remal on Children in Coastal Areas: A Qualitative Study in Khulna, Bangladesh

Sangeeta Goel, Kim Martin
9 Local Governments that Graduate from TCI Show Promising Signs of Institutionalization and Sustainability

Sasha Khomenko
92 Health burden and inequities of urban environmental stressors in Sofia, Bulgaria

Sasha Khomenko
93 From urban health research to policy-making: insights from stakeholder consultations in four European cities

Shahin Akter
121 Assessment of the User and Provider Perspectives of Urban Primary Health Care Service Delivery for Nutritional Mainstreaming Initiative in Bangladesh

Fernando Ortega, Shari Jardine
258 Poster Presentations Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Resiliency and Action

Suman Singh
166 Spatial pattern of Climatic Exposure and Multidimensional Poverty in districts of India

Swati Mahajan
71 Hyperlocal Interventions and Strategies for Climate Resilient Healthcare Facilities, Workplaces and Communities: Case Study from India

Syed Ayub Qutub
231 impact of prolonged muggy weather on urban well being and measures to ameliorate: a case study of 2024 Karachi heat wave

Tamara Lungman
106 Co-benefits of nature-based solutions: a health impact assessment of the Barcelona Green Corridor (Eixos Verds) Plan

Waleska Caiaffa
242 Inequalities in self-rated health among Brazilian older adults (50+): evidence from Elsi-Urbe study

Weronika Gasior
153 Green care for mental health: equity and its main players. Analysis of stakeholders & insights from the GreenME project.

Yan Wu
120 Public participation in low-carbon city transition——An Exploration of Millenials’ low-carbon behaviour, a case study in China

Zakaria Oulad
260 Poster Presentations Elevating Urban Health through Quality of Life initiatives in emerging cities

17:30 - 17:45 — Alvaro Valera Sosa
267 UrbanCare, a workflow to build Urban Health with an evidence-based planning and design approach

17:45 - 18:00 — Dr. Robert Hughes
255 Pathways to a healthy ‘net zero’ future: The Pathfinder Initiative

18:00 - 18:15 — Nina Abrahams, Erin Mathieu
42 Pathways to Health: Investigating Policy Intersections of Non-Communicable Diseases, Climate Change, and Urban Resilience in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

18:15 - 18:30 — Mr Zakaria Oulad 
260 Elevating Urban Health through Quality-of-Life initiatives in emerging cities

17:30pm - 17:45pm — Shohei Nagata
264 Changes in Urban Human Mobility by Deprivation Level during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan
17:45pm - 18:00pm — Tamara Al-Obaidi
18 The complex factors influencing urban health and wellbeing according to residents of apartment buildings in Sydney, Australia
18:00pm - 18:15pm — Tomoki Nakaya
263 Does moving residential neighbourhood impact health? A relocation study during the COVID-19 pandemic period
18:15pm - 18:30pm — Eunjeong Kang
219 A Tale of Two Cities: Korea's First Climate Change Health Impact Assessment Pilot Project

There is growing evidence to support the notion that urban green spaces are essential for creating healthy, sustainable, and livable cities, as well as for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11). Interventions that aim to enhance or expand urban green spaces can lead to positive health, social, and environmental outcomes, especially for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is significant for adolescents, as studies have shown that urban living can profoundly impact their physical and mental well-being. To date, however, we have limited understanding about what type of green space or what features within a green space may be most important. Project VITAL (Vacant Lot Improvement to Transform Adolescent Lives) is a 4-year study designed to address this knowledge gap by examining the associations between greening interventions on vacant properties and adolescent health outcomes in Baltimore – a city that has over 20,000 vacant lots and additional 17,000 abandoned buildings. This project employs a multidisciplinary approach that includes a survey of adolescents, participatory mapping, in-depth interviews among adolescents living next to different types of greening interventions, observations of the built environment, longitudinal virtual audits of Street View imagery, and data-sharing partnerships with the community organizations leading greening efforts in Baltimore.


For this interactive panel, we will present an overview of Project VITAL, emphasizing the innovative partnerships that have been established between researchers, interventionists, and government agencies, as well as selected research findings. Among our sample of adolescents in Baltimore, those who lived near unkept vacant lots were more likely to report food insecurity, more experiences with violence, and reported an increased rate of PTSD, while maintained green spaces appeared to be protective against PTSD and food insecurity. Presentations will report on longitudinal trajectories of built-environmental outcomes following vacant building demolitions, relationships between vacant lot greening and crime, and findings from in-person observations of greened and ungreened vacant lots. The panel will conclude by presenting the key global implications of this project, specifically how urban areas can utilize these findings to mitigate against environmental challenges and improve the health and well-being of adolescents.

IPCC reports have identified that impacts of climate change will be concentrated among the most marginalised and poorest urban populations, particularly the one billion people living in informal settlements, where vulnerabilities to extreme weather events such as storms, flooding and heatwaves are already being experienced. This panel presents and discusses findings from several research consortia engaging with community led initiatives for health equity and climate resilience in informal settlements, through Community-Based Participatory Research in India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.


Community ‘co-researchers’, professional researchers and development professionals will share experiences from ARISE consortium research, which aimed to strengthen accountability for community health equity in informal urban settlements and will share how community-led initiatives are being adapted to promote climate resilience for health. Presenters will also share initial findings from Urban SHADE, which aims to strengthen health service responsiveness to extreme weather events in informal settlements India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.


Presentations will include a consideration of how organised communities can use participatory data collection and analysis as the basis for developing their own processes for responding to extreme weather events as well as for advocating with governance stakeholders to improve responsiveness to their priorities and vulnerabilities. Community vulnerabilities are explored from an intersectional perspective, which considers how intersecting social identities create differential risks within informal settlements. Presenters will also share experiences of working with a range of governance actors relevant to the impact of extreme weather events on health, including but not limited to health services. They will draw from work including creating physical address systems, co-producing WASH improvements, developing community-based mental health interventions, creating disaster response approaches and co-producing climate resilient housing. In this 60-minute panel, 6 presenters will make an initial presentation lasting seven minutes each, after which the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and reflect on contributions of community and governance stakeholders to promoting inclusive urban development for climate-resilient, equitable health and well-being. Dr Surekha Garimella (The George Institute, India) will chair the panel as co-I for ARISE and Co-PI for Urban SHADE.

A more integrated, holistic approach to urban health offers significant opportunities to improve health and health equity while simultaneously benefiting other pressing goals of sustainable development. WHO has been developing a Strategic Guide for Urban Health to support such an approach, comprising a global report and three strands of supporting materials: a series of policy briefs on cross-cutting issues, case studies to illustrate relevant current practices, and issue papers to explore the value of urban health and its relationship to other issues.

The Strategic Guide provides an outline for developing an effective urban health strategy, but to achieve full impact, this guidance will need to be translated into local (national or city-level) context via a well-defined implementation process.
This workshop will explore the necessary elements of such a process, inviting a wide range of participants to provide insights into resource requirements, staging, stakeholders, and actions, among other issues. Insights will be documented and will contribute to the ongoing implementation of the Strategic Guide.

Objectives:      

1. Explore the necessary components for translating the Strategic Guide for Urban Health into local contexts.
2. Identify and involve key stakeholders essential for successful implementation.
3. Develop actionable steps for local implementation of urban health strategies.
4. Collect and document insights from participants to enhance the ongoing implementation of the Strategic Guide.

Join us for an exclusive evening to honor the invaluable contributions of our speakers and sponsors to ICUH 2024. Hosted at the Amal Targa Training Center, this event will feature a beautifully prepared meal by Amal, a local nonprofit dedicated to empowering women through culinary arts. Immerse yourself in Morocco's rich culinary traditions while connecting with fellow contributors in a stunning Moroccan setting. This invitation-only reception is our way of expressing gratitude for your support in making ICUH 2024 a success.