BCHC Newsletter - January 2012

THE NEWS

Healthy Families BC Communities Initiative Consultation

Local Government Elected Officials and Chief Administrative Officers are invited to participate in a Healthy Families BC Communities consultation session in their region with the intent to foster partnerships between local governments and health authorities.

The Healthy Families BC Communities Initiative focuses on increasing support at the local government and health authority level to create environments that support people the make healthy choices the easy choice. Since there is no "one size fits all" approach to creating a healthy community the Ministry of Health is consulting with local governments and health authorities on the development of the Healthy Families BC Communities Initiative to ensure that it meets local community needs.

Based on the feedback received from the Union of BC Municipalities and Area Associations, a series of regional consultations are organized with local governments to gather input and feedback on the development and implementation of the Healthy Families BC Communities Initiative. To find out more about the consultations, dates and locations please click here

Healthy by Nature Report

In September 2011, 200 delegates (including 27 youth) gathered in Vancouver for the Healthy by Nature forum. This interdisciplinary forum focused on the physical & mental health benefits of time spent in nature through initiating dialogues, awareness building, partnership development, and action planning. The Healthy by Nature gathering was a collaborative effort led by numerous partners including BC Healthy Communities.

You can now read the full report detailing the whole forum. The report includes presentation highlights of keynote speakers Gil Penalosa and WIlliam Bird  and interesting outcomes of the panel discussions and sector workshops. It’s a great read for health practitioners, community & urban planners, and anyone who is interested in the critical links between human health, well being and nature.
K

K

THE COMMUNITY

A Community Tables Update

Our youngest Community Tables member
 sharing her vision

The Community Tables: Engaging Neighbours Project launched in October with the first set of neighbourhood meetings taking place in Victoria’s Oaklands, North Park and Gorge-Tillicum neighbourhoods.

The Community Tables are a regional initiative of the United Way of Greater Victoria (UWGV), BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) and the Office of Community-Based Research-University of Victoria (OCBR) that focuses on building healthy, resilient neighbourhoods and mobilizing community assets to address some of Greater Victoria's most pressing issues.

During the table sessions an integral lens is used to help the groups create a vision for their neighbourhood, identify community assets and study challenges while paying attention to the tangible and intangible aspects of their community. One of the graduate interns from the University of Victoria, who support each of the table sessions, shared the following reflections after one of the sessions:
K

"Residents at the Tillicum Table were really excited about the possibility of improving their communities- and many there shared strikingly similar visions for what changes could help make the neighborhood more cohesive and vibrant" 

Lisa Willott Graduate Student Intern for Gorge-Tillicum, MA Candidate, Geography

In addition to the monthly meetings a community survey is conducted to gain more knowledge about the neighbourhood’s key assets, challenges and visions for change. The survey process aims to gain insight from a broad range of residents and the inventory will be incorporated into the table’s community development process. The last of the surveys are coming in now and will be discussed at the next community table meetings in February while the groups are gearing up to create their final Plan for Action. For more information about the Community Tables please send your request to stacy@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE CHAMPION

Lisa Helps – The New City of Victoria Youth Council Liaison

Lisa Helps spends much of her time working in the community on place-based solutions to global and national challenges, and to increasing citizen engagement. She is a founder and currently the Executive Director of the Victoria Community Micro Lending Society which helps to build a vibrant local economy, foster sustainable business, reduce local poverty, and empower people. She also facilitates strategic planning and visioning sessions for organizations and small groups.

Lisa was on the the Board of Directors of Victoria’s Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group (Fernwood NRG) when the Society purchased and restored the Cornerstone building, built affordable housing units, and opened the Cornerstone Café as an enterprising non-profit venture. She is thrilled to be working for Community Micro Lending and is excited about the prospect of "changing everything".
K

In November Lisa was elected to the Victoria City Council and invited to become the new City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC) Liaison. The CVYC was very pleased with this news and is looking forward to work together with Lisa on building a city where citizens lead.

THE PRACTICE

Creating Change one Step at a Time

by: Deirdre Goudriaan

Over the past year, BCHC has been working on an innovation project through Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in Prince George and the Upper Skeena’s to engage young people to address healthy weights. As I was thinking about sharing some of our learning a personal story emerged for me as well that illuminate how hard it is to change.

There is nothing like a catastrophic health challenge that requires you to change your complete diet. I decided I would share this story with you because it highlights my own exploration of having to transform my diet. Secondly it allowed me to think through first-hand what we are asking young people in our communities to do and change.

Recently my physician advised me to adopt a potassium free diet (I have nicknamed it the “white diet” but more on that later) to deal with a blood disorder. Previously I was an ovo- vegetarian which refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs (for both health and ethical reasons). The first change required me to stop eating any vegetable based proteins and a variety of fruits and veggies I really enjoy and start eating meat. I knew it was necessary and yet I really resisted because:

• I assumed healthy eating did not include meat or white flour (white bread, etc.) You see why it’s called the white diet (rice, apples, pears, white bread, white pita etc.)
• I was ethically opposed to eating meat and many of my favorite vegetables and fruits required change as well (fortunately I maintained berries, I do live in the valley so that essential)
• I had developed vegetarian habits (I knew how to shop/cook etc.)
• I did not want to support white flour producers and what I considered unhealthy products (but here I am eating them)
• My family was impacted and it has required more work
• I felt inept at cooking, shopping and had no recipes
• I did not feel the change could be healthy (even though it was ordered for health reasons)
  K

Now this is just a small list but it gives you some idea of the complexity involved in asking someone to change their eating habits (whether those are good or not so good). This led me to think about the multitude of messages about food young people are surrounded by including what they should eat and who controls that for them.
K

In spite of all these influences, the youth involved with the PHAC project were able to look at some of the underlying and root causes of healthy eating and living and were able to illuminate blind spots, limitations but also possibilities. For me exploring possibilities is still unfolding as I unpack my mental models of healthy foods.
K

What is helping for the youth and myself to explore the root causes? Reflecting on our/my actions in a systematic and coordinated way. They learned and I am learning, I can have control by experimenting, trying new ideas and this learning and excitement also bubbles over into their communities (or in my case to my family), they talk about what they have learned and how they have changed. I guess that is what I am doing with this article.

This practice helped both me and the youth to take wiser, more discerning action in a way that honours what they know and how they know it and moves to create change. For example, a lot of youth are loyal to family eating rituals (I was), yet they can also influence and change those. We believe uncovering what's under the surface lead us away from “quick fixes” and propels us in new directions to address the complexity of healthy weights in youth but also to allow me to adopt this new way of being in the world.

EVENTS

Conference ~ 5th Building SustainAble Communities Conference

What: Conference including breakouts, panels, workshops, debates, and interactive sessions to provide opportunities for enhanced communication and collaboration on diverse sustainability topics

When: February 27th to March 1st, 2012

Where: Kelowna, for more information click here

Webinars ~ Beyond the Nest Egg: Feathering the Nest for Healthy Retirement

What: BCHC and Northern Health's Population Health Team have partnered to host a series of free web-based seminars on the role of citizens in building healthy communities. The webinars invite dialogue from northern communities on specific topics that are critical to improving the health outcomes of northern people.

When: April 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm
Where: Online, for more information or to register click here

K

Summit ~ Cities fit for Children

What: 3rd Annual Provincial Summit

When: Thursday, May 10 to Friday, May 11 2012

Where: Kamloops. For more information click here

THE WATCH

In this era of increasingly complex problems and shrinking resources, can we find meaningful and enduring solutions to the challenges we face today as individuals, communities and nations?

Surfing the Waves of Change is an animation exploring the idea of community resilience using the metaphor of a surfer. It is produced by Cultivate's Community Resilience Centre in Ireland as a spin off of the resilience work of Fiery Spirits.

BCHC Newsletter - November 2011

THE NEWS

CVYC Youth Leadership and Action Summit a Great Success!

CVYC Members at the Summit registration table

On November 25th over a 100 Youth gathered at the City Hall to participate in the The City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC) Youth Leadership and Action Summit. The CVYC organized this free two-day intensive learning and skills building workshop for youth 14-25 who live, work, play or study in Victoria.

The Summit kicked of with a panel and presentations with Mayor Dean Fortin, Professor Catherine McGregor and Youth Volunteer Connections Program Coordinator Leanna Hill. The panel discussed questions around what leadership is and how you know when you’re creating change. The first day of the summit was focused on learning about different topics such as Creating Inclusive Communities and Economic and Educational Equality. On the second day the summit participants got the chance to engage in skills building workshops on using video, music and graphic design for their community or social change project. The Summit was a powerful way to engage youth and to help them move forward on their projects of change. For more info visit the Youth Summit website, watch one of the video's or contact youth@bchealthycommunities.ca to learn more about how BC Healthy Communities can help you support youth leadership and action in your community

Successful Completion Phase I and Start Phase II BC Housing Project

Since December 2010 BCHC has partnered with BC Housing to design, develop, implement and evaluate a program for Tenant Engagement on Sustainability (TES) for three sites: Grandview Towers, Grandview Family Townhouses and Hall Towers II. After the successful completion of Phase I the focus for the next phase of the pilot will be on intensifying energy conservation activities and capacity building. This will include door-to-door outreach to introduce livegreen and the development of a TES tool-kit. For more information about our climate action work please visit the BCHC website or contact Kerri Klein at kerri@bchealthycommunities.ca

Register now for ‘Public Engagement and Communication: Influencing Change for Sustainability’ course

BCHC and Royal Roads University have collaborated to offer a practical 1 day course which will explore exciting new research from the psychological and social sciences on how people understand and engage with the issue of energy reduction and climate change. The course will give an introduction on a spectrum of tools, approaches and methods that participants can use in the design of the own public engagement initiatives. Participants will also apply learning to a practical project of their own throughout this the day. The course will be held on December 8th, click here for more information on how to register.

THE COMMUNITY

Youth Engagement and Mentorship with Fraser Valley Regional Library

FVRL - TAG Meeting

In July Abbotsford, B.C. ­ BC Healthy Communities and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. collaborated to launch the 'Welcoming and Inclusive Communities Legacy Project' to build on the work of the previous demonstration project and continue to engage immigrant and newcomer youth in Abbotsford. This project engages and involves youth in community leadership and mentorship and builds on the success of the ‘Food for Thought’ project for youth under 19 years of age. This project also supports the development of entrepreneurship and community leadership through development of a local Junior Chamber International Chapter and The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce for young people between 19-40 years of age. Supporting young people requires innovative partnerships that plant the seeds to engage youth to be leaders now!

A huge success for young people has been our partnership with Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL) and the co-creation of a teen advisory group known as ‘TAG’, this group consisting of more than 60 youth and a youth executive, is changing youth input and the direction of youth programming at the library and of course are supported by adult allies and community partners in doing so. We are also working with Big Brothers and Sisters on the development of youth mentorship and action projects through Go Girls as well. We believe we have collectively ignited youth passion and engagement and want to continue building on our success to encourage the development of this by youth for youth approach.

If you have a novel idea and share the desire to engage young people in meaningful ways that supports positive youth development we would love to hear from you! We are open to engaging other community partners who share the ‘by youth, for youth’ approach that supports the passion and purpose of young people to join this project. For more information contact Deirdre Goudriaan at deirdre@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE CHAMPIONS

Lilia Zaharieva and Sam Claver

At 24 and 17, Lilia Zaharieva and Sam Claver are examples of community leadership in action.

Lilia is the creator of insideOUT – a group providing support to youth between the ages of 13-18 who have a parent with a mental illness. Having a parent with a mental illness herself, Lilia recognized the need for a safe place for youth to talk and learn about mental illness and take away some of the stigma associated with this issue. Speaking at the recent City of Victoria Youth Council’s leadership and action summit Lilia inspired youth in the audience and reminded us of youth’s amazing capacity for innovation and change. Creating social change and innovation, she reminded us, is sort of like a ‘bacon cinnamon roll’- by putting unexpected things together we can create something new and delicious, and that is more than the sum of its parts!

Samantha came to Canada as a political refugee in 2007 from her home country, the Philippines. Adjusting to life in Canada was hard, she admits, but she started to feel more at home here when she started getting more involved with the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS). Since then she has been involved in two theatre projects, called ‘Where is Home’ and ‘My Forbidden Disorder-’, with VIRCS. ‘Where is Home’ documents the immigration experiences of newcomer youth, while My Forbidden Disorder tackles the challenging issue of homophobia. Sam has also been active in working with Project Respect- to bring youth perspectives to the issue of sexualized violence. Speaking at the Summit, she said of her community involvement, “even though it might seem like you are doing something minor, it is never a bad idea to do something you are passionate about.”

Lilia and Sam recently shared the Representative of Children and Youth’s 2011 Youth Leadership Award and are reminders that youth are citizens and leaders today.

THE PRACTICE

Collaborating for Community Health and Sustainability
by Jodi Mucha

BCHC has recently partnered with Fraser Basin Council (FBC) to collaborate through FBC’s Smart Planning for Communities Initiative (SPC). The SPC initiative is a BC-wide collaborative initiative to assist local and First Nations governments in addressing their long-term sustainability challenges by providing resources and tools for planning socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable communities.

SPC was developed in response to the call for “Integrated Community Sustainability Planning” (ICSP) in the 2005 Federal/ Provincial/ UBCM Gas Tax Agreement. It recognizes that a flexible approach to integrated sustainability planning is needed in British Columbia — an approach that allows communities to build on, enhance and integrate existing planning processes while also exploring innovative tools and frameworks. Smart Planning for Communities calls for collaboration among organizations and teams of people working together to develop and implement integrated strategies for a sustainable future. BC Healthy Communities focuses on an integrated, healthy communities approach to community health and wellness and together we are excited to bring our collective health and planning expertise to build on capacity for community health and sustainability planning.

As part of our partnership, we have a BCHC facilitator on Vancouver Island working in a jointly shared position (wearing the hat of both organizations and making the links between the two) to support communities in their planning efforts. Together we are supporting stronger collaborations and networking opportunities between and amongst local governments, health authorities, First Nations and community groups around issues such as climate action, transportation planning, health and the built environment and chronic disease prevention. Please watch for upcoming opportunities and if you would like further information on how we can support you in your planning and collaboration efforts please contact bchc@bchealthycommunities.ca.

EVENTS

Film Festival~ Living Life Fully
What: Health Fair and Film Festival to celebrate healthy living in the North
When: Saturday December 3rd, 2011. Doors open at 6.30 pm

Where: Prince George. For more information click here

Course ~ Public Engagement and Communication: 'Influencing Change for Sustainability'

What: Course on Public Engagement and Communication

When: Thursday, December 8, 9.00 – 4.30 PM

Where: Victoria, Royal Roads University.

For more information or to register click here

Webinars ~ Northern BC Citizens Series on Health Webinars

BCHC and Northern Health's Population Health Team have partnered to host a series of free web-based seminars on the role of citizens in building healthy communities. The webinars invite dialogue from northern communities on specific topics that are critical to improving the health outcomes of northern people.

Jan. 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm

"Beginning With the End in Mind: Creating Safe and Nurturing Environments for Our Very Young"

April 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm

"Beyond the Nest Egg: Feathering the Nest for Healthy Retirement"

For more information or to register click here

Summit ~ Cities fit for Children

What: 3rd Annual Provincial Summit

When: Thursday, May 10 to Friday, May 11 2012

Where: Kamloops. For more information click here

THE READINGS

Author/Creator: Dr. David Butler-Jones - Public Health Agency of Canada

Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2011 – Youth and Young Adults – Life in Transition

This is the Chief Public Health Officer's fourth annual report on the state of public health in Canada. It examines the state of health and well being of Canadian youth (aged 12 to 19 years) and young adults (aged 20 to 29 years). The report considers many health issues affecting this population such as physical and mental health, injury, sexual and reproductive health and substance use and abuse. By discussing these issues and how they are addressed, the report identifies priority areas for action to maintain healthy transitions of young Canadians into adulthood. Read the full report here

BCHC Newsletter - October 2011

THE NEWS

Youth Leadership and Action Summit - New Date: November 25 & 26, 2011

The City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC) has picked a new date for the Youth Leadership Action Summit at the Victoria City Hall, the summit is now being held on November 25 & 26. The Summit is an exciting opportunity for youth where they can hear presentations on key issues affecting youth in our community and gain new skills in working together as a team, planning social change projects, making decisions as a group and to participate in hands-on workshops where youth will learn about using music, video, graphic, and other media to communicate their message. For more information about how to sign up for the summit please contact Sarah Amyot at youth@bchealthycommunities.ca

Report “Just scratching the surface”: Mental health promotion for Punjabi seniors (Forums)

In 2009, BC Healthy Communities joined the Immigrant Older Adults—Care Accessibility Research Empowerment (iCARE) team. In 2010, this group secured Community Action Initiative funding to explore the extent to which community services targeted at Punjabi seniors in Abbotsford and Surrey address the social determinants of mental health, as identified by Keleher and Armstrong:

• social inclusion
• freedom from violence and discrimination
• and access to economic resources support
  

In October iCARE presented its findings in a document which summarizes findings from two forums (held in April and May, 2011) that aimed to address the outlined goal. Forum participants were Punjabi older adults and service provider representatives identified as addressing at least one of the social determinants of mental health for Punjabi older adults and their families in each of the two identified communities. Read the full report here

THE ARTICLE

At the Intersection of Health and Climate Change
by Kerri Klein

Across British Columbia, communities are acknowledging that public health and the health of the planet are closely interrelated. While the interconnections between health and sustainability are increasingly being documented in the public health literature, all too often there are missed opportunities to explicitly integrate human health and environmental outcomes. According to Poland and Dooris (2010) “work on sustainability and work on health have tended to happen in parallel rather than as integrated efforts.”

In Canada, two critical areas have catalyzed the potential for urgent and integrated action on human and environmental health: chronic disease and climate change.

Climate Change
According to the World Health Organization, climate change is one of the most serious public health issues of our time. Direct and indirect health, economic and social impacts of climate change are predicted to be substantial and hit the most marginalized and vulnerable populations the hardest (Agyeman & Evans, 2004). Taking climate science seriously implies significant transformations of the built environment, transportation habits, energy sources, food sources and local economic development within one generation.

Chronic Disease
In Canada today, more than nine million people suffer from some form of chronic disease with the potential for this number to increase as populations age (HCC, 2007). More than ever before policy makers are looking at the rising rates of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and calling for approaches that focus on prevention. With attention on multiple determinants of health, there are strong interconnections between health and lifestyle, income, equity, the built environment and social engagement, to name a few. From a healthy communities perspective, addressing chronic disease requires a ‘joined-up’ approach that can account for and address multiple determinants of health more effectively.

At the Intersection of Health and Climate Change
While the Healthy Communities approach has always recognized healthy environments and ecosystems as important determinants of health, there is a need to examine the emerging opportunity and potential value of encouraging joined-up thinking and integrated action between health and climate change responses, specifically at the local level. We already know that there are natural co-benefits for public health from climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially in relation to key issues such as transportation, food and air quality. However, much less work has been done to look for shared solutions, approaches and practices to collectively address difficult social policy problems inherent in chronic disease and climate change. While health-oriented programs may include an environmental component and climate change programs may contain a healthy living component, the kind of hoped-for synergistic collaboration between sectors of health and environmental sustainability have yet to be realized (Poland & Dooris, 2010).

BC Healthy Communities is interested in supporting more integrated approaches between health and climate change. We recently published a paper on six ways more integrated action can be taken. You can find this report on the BCHC webpage for Climate Change: Building Shared Leadership for Climate Action .For more information about Health and Climate Change please contact kerri@bchealthycommunities.ca.

References:
Poland, B. & Dooris, M. (2010). A green and healthy future: the settings approach to building health, equity and sustainability. Critical Public Health, 20(3), 281-298. doi: 10.1080/09581596.2010.502931

Health Council of Canada. (2007). Schémas de population- Maladies chroniques au Canada:
Supplément de données à Importance du renouvellement des soins de santé: à l'écoute des canadiens atteints de maladies chroniques. Toronto: Retrieved from conseilcanadiendelasante.ca

THE COMMUNITY

Community Tables: Engaging Neighbours in Victoria!

Community Tables: Engaging Neighbours is a new regional initiative of the United Way of Greater Victoria (UWGV), BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) and the Office of Community-Based Research-University of Victoria (OCBR) that focuses on building healthy, resilient neighbourhoods and mobilizing community assets to address some of Greater Victoria's most pressing issues. This year, Neighbourhood Tables are being piloted in the Victoria communities of North Park, Tillicum and Oaklands.

On October 27th The Community Tables Project Launch Event kicked off with an inspiring neighbour power workshop with neighbourhood & community development leader Jim Diers. Diers explained how neighbours can generate tremendous power in shaping their communities and emphasized how important the 'fun' factor is when mobilizing neigbours to create change.

The Neighbourhood Tables will be held monthly until March 2012 at a community location in each neighbourhood and are open to people from all backgrounds, walks of life and age groups. For more information please contact Stacy Barter at stacy@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE CHAMPION

Sylvia MacLeay, Age Friendly Champion

Ms. Sylvia MacLeay retired after working for 38 years as a biology-chemistry teacher and provincial examination setter, Director of Human Resources, and Assistant Director of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement for the BC Teachers’ Federation. Now a past President of the BCRTA, she has focused on volunteering in the area of welfare for seniors. Currently Sylvia is First Vice-President of the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations (COSCO), a Director of the BC Retired Teachers Association, and a member of the Steering Committee of the BC Health Coalition. On a personal note, Sylvia is a long time sailor with the West Vancouver Yacht Club and President of the Vancouver Dixieland Jazz Society. Her 5 adult children, their spouses, and her 5 grand children are the light of her life.
K
THE PRACTICE

Youth Councils: A Model for Citizenship in Practice
by Emily Cordeaux

“Young people learn at least as much about democracy and citizenship – including their own citizenship – through their participation in the range of different practices that make up their lives, as they learn from that which is officially prescribed and formally taught” (Biesta, 2011, pg. 14).

On Sunday, October 23rd the 2011/2012 City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC) met for the first time to welcome 21 new and 6 returning members for the upcoming year. New CVYC members are joining us from schools and communities throughout Greater Victoria, all with unique experiences and interests to contribute. The orientation on Sunday served as a kicking off point for members to meet and discuss past CVYC projects, as well as define the direction of the new CVYC.

The CVYC provides rich opportunities for youth in Greater Victoria to be active at the community level and to be heard at City Council. Youth councils, such as the CVYC, create ‘real life’ opportunities for young people to learn about and contribute to civic life in community and provide a safe space in which young people can grow and take on new citizenship responsibilities. Through our support to the CVYC and other youth groups, we seek to support youth people in leadership and development opportunities that contribute to a sense of personal agency and a collective sense of belonging to their community.

Many of the new members applied to the CVYC with the hopes of working with like-minded youth on projects that they are most passionate about. The CVYC’s ability to attract youth of different ages, backgrounds and of different levels of familiarity with local government is what makes the CVYC such a dynamic group. At the orientation, CVYC members, old and new, had opportunities to share their skills and consider ways of building on the strengths of all members.

At the orientation Victoria City Councillor Philippe Lucas spoke to the importance of youth engagement initiatives such as the CVYC in contributing to the development of holistic and just communities. Engaging youth in discussions about community planning and priorities is more important than ever as local governments find themselves tasked with evermore complex policy and service delivery responsibilities. Youth provide an important perspective to these discussions that may otherwise be absent- for example, when the CVYC co-organised a number of ‘Community Cafes for Youth’ with City officials as part of the Official Community Plan development we learned an immense amount about the unique ways young people experience the city. It has been our experience that the youth council model is an excellent way to bring together many key elements of meaningful youth engagement by: linking youth’s individual, short-term goals with collective action and community change, institutionalizing the practice of youth involvement in civic and community planning and decision making, and creating space for youth-led action projects.

Part of the success of the CVYC lies in the support it receives from community members. Community members provide much needed support to the CVYC and are instrumental in helping ensure that CVYC initiatives are well received and publicized within the community. No youth council is an island and the CVYC would not be what it is without the tremendous support it receives from the City of Victoria & community partners.

The CVYC has exciting projects on the horizon and is looking forward to the year ahead. New members’ bios will be listed on the CVYC website within the next week. Be sure to check them out at cvyc.net. If you are interested in learning more about creating or supporting a youth council in your community, please contact us at youth@bchealthycommunities.ca

Reference: Learning Democracy in School and Society - Education, Lifelong Learning and the Politics of Citizenship. Gert J.J. Biesta.

EVENTS

Webinars ~ Northern BC Citizens Series on Health Webinars
BCHC and Northern Health's Population Health Team have partnered to host a series of free web-based seminars on the role of citizens in building healthy communities. The webinars invite dialogue from northern communities on specific topics that are critical to improving the health outcomes of northern people.

Jan. 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm
"Beginning With the End in Mind: Creating Safe and Nurturing Environments for Our Very Young"
April 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm
"Beyond the Nest Egg: Feathering the Nest for Healthy Retirement"
For more information or to REGISTER click here

Youth Summit ~ My City, My Community, My Life
What: Youth Leadership and Action Summit
When: November 25th & 26th 2011
Where: Victoria City Hall
For more information click here

Summit ~ Cities fit for Children
What: 3rd Annual Provincial Summit
When: Thursday, May 10 to Friday, May 11 2012
Where: Kamloops, BC
For more information click here

THE READINGS

Neighbor Power: Building Community The Seattle Way
Author: Jim Diers

In Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way, Diers chronicles how the Department of Neighborhoods has involved tens of thousands of neighbors in the development of scores of community-driven plans and 3,000 neighborhood self-help projects. The book not only gives hope that participatory democracy is possible, but it offers practical applications and invaluable lessons for ordinary, caring neighbors who want to make a difference. It also provides government officials with inspiring stories and proven programs to help them embrace neighbourhood activists as true partners.

Jim Diers has a passion for building neighbour power. Since moving to Seattle in 1976, he put that passion to work for an Alinsky-style community organization, a health care cooperative, and a community development corporation. Diers served under three mayors over 14 years as the department grew to become a national model for planning and development powered by neighbors. Read more here

BCHC Newsletter - September 2011

THE NEWS

Drop off your winter gear for homeless Youth in Victoria
The City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC), a BC Healthy Communities program, is collecting donations of clean winter hats/toques, gloves and scarves for homeless youth in Victoria. We are hoping to collect 30 complete sets of these items by October 5th. The donation drive is part of Project Connect, organized by the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.

Donations can be dropped off to the following locations:
BC Healthy Communities: 525 Government Street - Monday- Friday between 8:30- 4:30 p.m.
Crystal Pool: 2275 Quadra Street – during regular pool hours
Victoria City Hall (lobby): 1 Centennial Square – Monday – Friday between 8:00- 4:30 p.m.
L’ecole Brodeur: 637 Rue Head- Monday – Friday during school hours
For more info click here


My City. My Community. My Life: Youth Leadership and Action Summit 
On November 4th and 5th The City of Victoria Youth Council is organizing a Youth Leadership Action Summit at the Victoria City Hall with support from the City of Victoria. The Summit is an exciting opportunity for youth where they can hear presentations on key issues affecting youth in our community and gain new skills in working together as a team, planning social change projects, making decisions as a group and to participate in hands-on workshops where youth will learn about using music, video, graphic, and other media to communicate their message. For more info click here

THE ARTICLE

Literacy in the Environment

By Frances Warner and Vi Hughes

Can playgrounds and public spaces be designed to enhance early literacy as well as promote healthy bodies? We think so. All areas of child development are enhanced through play, including language development. Printing words, signs, labels, messages, stories, and rhymes on playground equipment, in community gardens, and in the parks and recreational spaces, will ignite a preschooler’s natural curiosity. These reading discoveries could be as simple as finding the word ‘swing’ on the seat of a swing, or ‘up’ on the slide’s steps, or ‘round, round, round’ on the wheels of the playground bus. It could mean finding numbers or shapes on paving stones. Children will wonder and ask about the print, about what the words say and mean. The collaborative conversations that follow are crucial to a child’s literacy development. 

Photo: Douglas Colpitts

Over time children will develop the foundations of literacy. They will see that words have meaning, that words identify a picture, tell a story or give a message. They will notice that English print moves from left to right and top to bottom. With repeated experiences children will begin to read for themselves, predict the meaning of new words, and match words to the pictures on display. With rhymes and predictable text, children will learn the rhythm of our language and the pattern of sentences.

This ‘Literacy in the Environment’ or LITE will provide benefits for all children, but it will particularly assist those children with limited educational opportunities. It will help foster a child friendly environment and could also be used to promote socially responsible activities; such as taking transit, biking, walking, keeping safe, protecting wildlife, recycling and celebrating diversity.

Why do we believe in providing reading opportunities to children long before they start school? According to the Human Early Learning Partnership Study that tracked 140,000 children over a decade, over 25% of children starting Kindergarten in BC were considered vulnerable, lacking in literacy skills. Municipalities understand the importance of supporting emerging literacy and typically provide community spaces and grants to non-profit societies who organize wonderful literacy programs and events. Many of these are time specific, dependent upon adults, require registration, and substantial resources. LITE aims for universal accessibility for preschoolers.

We call upon park planners, social planners, early childhood educators, librarians, and primary school teachers to collaborate on how LITE could be implemented in their neighbourhood public spaces and recreational facilities. Implementation plans could align with playground upgrading schedules and funding could be provided through parks budgets and community amenities contributions. LITE’s a bright idea! Developing healthy bodies and healthy minds at the same time.

Reference: The Human Early Learning Partnership, Dr. Clyde Hertzman, 2009

THE COMMUNITY

Building Community Through Cupcakes!

By Stacy Barter

On September 25th, BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) hosted a “Cupcake Social” for over 200 residents of Acadia Park, the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) student family housing neighbourhood. Based on the Integral Capacity Building Framework and designed to be family-friendly and community building for all ages, the event brought people together around something we all love – FOOD! The event featured a range of activities to celebrate the diverse multi-cultural community that lives at Acadia Park. Activities included cupcake decorating, family arts and crafts activities including a banner of “community flags”, community and asset mapping, and children’s arts activities.
 K

BCHC and the UBC’s Campus and Community Planning Office formed a partnership earlier this summer to design and conduct a community needs assessment and asset mapping process with residents and staff of Acadia Park. The Cupcake Social was organized to gather feedback from residents about their community, community assets, and programming they would like to see in the future. The input of the Acadia community members will be used to create recommendations for future community development. For more information about the UBC – Acadia project or the Integral Capacity Building Framework please contact stacy@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE CHAMPION

Becs Hoskins - BC Parks / Child and Nature Alliance of Canada

By: Lucas Harris

Becs Hoskins is a passionate advocate for building healthy communities through increasing people's connection with the outdoors. Her work focuses on ensuring that all Canadians have unstructured experiences in nature - whether it's in their backyard or in a remote wilderness setting. For the past five years, Becs has facilitated collaborative processes and initiatives that bring cross-sector groups together with the common goal of improving human health and well-being through a connection with nature. Most recently, Becs was the lead organizer for the Healthy by Nature forum in Vancouver. Becs' passion, experience and clear vision, combined with the hard work of many collaborative partners resulted in a memorable and inspiring event that brought together professionals from health, communities & planning, education, and parks & recreation.

Becs has worked in numerous roles building strategic partnerships in a variety of sectors including youth engagement, climate action and parks. Becs spent many years as an outdoor educator and is a geographer by training (with a BSc and MSc from the University of Victoria). She combines her experience in collaboration, social innovation, group facilitation, non-profit management and youth engagement with her passion for people and nature in her current roles as a project manager with BC Parks and as Director of the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada .

Becs also volunteers as a member of the Program Committee for Power to Be Adventure Therapy Society, where she has been a volunteer for 8 years.

THE PRACTICE

What is Healthy Public Policy?
By: Jodi Mucha
 

Health is both a fundamental human right and a valuable social investment. Many of the inequities in health that communities are grappling with stem are from inequities in our social systems. Inequities in our social systems oftentimes are a function of the lack of health supporting policies. Health supporting policies are ‘healthy public policies’ (a term coined by public health physician, Dr. Trevor Hancock, and are developed by not just the health sector but a wide range of sectors.

Beyond the Health Sector

The Adelaide Declaration defines healthy public policy as: “(it) is characterized by an explicit concern for health and equity in all areas of policy and by an accountability for health impact. The main aim of health-focused policy is to create a supportive environment to enable people to lead healthy lives” (WHO,1988). Such policies make health choices possible or easier for citizens. The above definition implies that policy decisions are not limited to those relating to health care or even other public services. Instead, policy decisions would include a commitment to review all policy actions taken by governments and their public offices and organizations in light of their effects on health (Centre for Active Living, 2002 ).

Basic Principles

One of the fundamental precepts on which the healthy cities/communities approach is based is that the major determinants of health are to be found in environmental, social, economic, political, and cultural conditions—and the behaviors they shape—rather than in the provision of health care. Accordingly, most of the people and organizations who will have the biggest impact on health in the community are to be found beyond the health care sector (Hancock 1997). Five basic principles of healthy public policy identified by the World Health Organization that expand the connections beyond traditional health and public service responsibilities and link to a range of determinants of health include:

• Economic development must seek to increase quality of life and not just gross national product;

• The most sensitive indicator of a society's quality of life is the health of its poor and other vulnerable groups (such as children, elders, women who head households, the handicapped, unemployed, migrants, and minorities);

• The achievement of equal access to resources for health should be high among the goals of economic development;

• Health service cannot alone equalize opportunities for health; and

• Health equity—health for all—requires the collaboration of all policy sectors (especially those concerned with economics, agriculture and food, education and information, and environment and habitat) (WHO, 1988).

What can be Done

Local government can play a lead role in influencing and developing healthy public policies thus creating environments where citizens not only survive, but thrive. The first step is to develop a multi-sectoral Healthy Communities (HC) Committee with a commitment to influence individual and community health and well-being. The HC Committee then provides leadership, through representation, strategic alliances, investment, education and monitoring/evaluation. From a delivery perspective, the committee ensures delivery of local government services and activities that include facilitation, funding, regulation, provision and collaboration (with other levels of government and the community). Through such activities individuals, families, community groups and a wide range of organizations can build on existing capacities and develop stronger abilities to influence change.

References:

-  Hancock, Trevor. 1997. Healthy Cities and Communities: Past, Present, and Future

- Centre for Active Living. Healthy Public Policy or Hollow Political Prose: How Much Progress Have We Really Made? 2002

-  World Health Organization: Adelaide Recommendations on Healthy Public Policy Second International Conference on Health Promotion, Adelaide, South Australia, 5-9 April 1988

EVENTS

Webinars ~ Northern BC Citizens Series on Health Webinars

BCHC and Northern Health's Population Health Team have partnered to host a series of free web-based seminars on the role of citizens in building healthy communities. The webinars invite dialogue from northern communities on specific topics that are critical to improving the health outcomes of northern people.

Oct. 13, 2011 - 1:30 - 3:30pm

"Reading Between the Lines: How Libraries and Literacy Contribute to Health"

Jan. 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm

"Beginning With the End in Mind: Creating Safe and Nurturing Environments for Our Very Young"

April 19, 2012 - 1:30 - 3:30pm

"Beyond the Nest Egg: Feathering the Nest for Healthy Retirement"

For more information or to REGISTER click here

Bright Ideas IV ~ Pre-Conference Learning Event - Youth Engagement 101

What: Youth Engagement Learning Event

When: October 18, 2011, 9:30am - 12:00 noon

Where: Victoria, Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre

For more information or to register click here ( Deadline: October 11th, 2011)

Bright Ideas IV ~ Conference and Day of Action!

What: Youth Engagement Learning Event

When: October 25, 2011, 9:30am - 3:30

Where: TBA

For more information or to register click here ( Deadline: October 11th, 2011)

Youth Summit ~ My City, My Community, My Life
What: Youth Leadership and Action Summit
When: November 4th & 5th 2011
Where: Victoria City Hall
For more information click here

Summit ~ Cities fit for Children

What: 3rd Annual Provincial Summit

When: Thursday, May 10 to Friday, May 11 2012

Where: Kamloops, BC

For more information click here

THE READINGS

Last Child in the Woods

Author: Richard Louv

In this influential work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.

Last Child in the Woods is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. More than just raising an alarm, Louv offers practical solutions and simple ways to heal the broken bond—and many are right in our own backyard. Read more