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

Urban health in Bangladesh faces significant challenges, exacerbated by rapid urbanization and climate change. Poor urban planning, a lack of green space, and inadequate waste management further exacerbate health issues, leading to the spread of vector-borne diseases and respiratory illnesses. The Bangladesh government, through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), along with other relevant agencies, is working to strengthen the country’s climate resilience. However, integrating health and climate strategies is essential for proper planning and implementation of adaptive measures for sustainable and resilient urban communities.


The Bangladesh Urban Health Network (BUHN) has proposed a workshop with objectives to disseminate information on climate change impacts in Bangladesh, highlight challenges, and identify areas for improvement. The workshop aims to bring together experts to discuss strategies for enhancing resilience, sustainable development, and climate adaptation to safeguard Bangladesh's future. The interactive panel discussion will have a chairperson and a moderator, five presenters highlighting five themes aligning climate resilience with urban health sustainability. The workshop will include presentations on the theme of understanding Climate Change with Impacts and Projections, Urban Resilience for Planning Cities to Withstand Climate Change, Community-Led Adaptation to Empowering Local Actions, Disaster Preparedness and Response and Bridging Health with Climate Change in Urban Bangladesh.


The themes of presentation will cover current environmental status, existing strategies and policies of Bangladesh aligning with health perspective, impacts, projections and strategies to be adapted for sustainability and resilient climate in urban health settings, engagement of different public and private stakeholders, NGOs in building community resilience, disaster management and preparedness as well as integration of climate resiliency with urban health initiatives through policy and advocacy for sustainable urban health in Bangladesh.


The panel discussion will address the intersection of urban health and climate resilience, aiming to tackle challenges posed by urbanization and climate change. It will facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange among stakeholders to improve urban health and climate resiliency and establish future directions for urban health policy and practice.