Developing an urban health research programme using the systems approach

Nordin HasanDirector

ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Context• Cities have become the

dominant habitat of humans.

• From 2010 more than half the human population on earth were urban.

World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights

Aggregate urban health data can hide significant health inequities. How do we address inequities?

Source: asiasociety.org

• Unprecedented need and opportunity to:– improve decision-

making on human health in urban regions

– further improve and promote better decisions

Operationally we recognised urgent need for urban health and wellbeing programmes to promote more holistic evidence-based outlooks for decision-making systems and approaches

Climate modeling

Air Quality 1.modeling2.monitoring3.emission inventory

Epidemiology study: exposure, time-activity,

health impacts1.panel study2.population study

Behavior and Vulnerability assessment: social drivers

Air quality management:1.Cost-benefit analysis2.Short-term intervention3.Long-term improvement4.Decision making processes

What we wanted to have in our UHW programme

• Recognition that urban health issues are complex, and require multi-disciplinary approaches

• Research into urban health and wellbeing that addresses multi-sectoral issues and involve a wide range of stakeholders

• Adopts a system dynamics approach

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Focus is:

• How do we encourage researchers and urban planners who have not collaborated to think collectively?

• How do we get researchers from diverse disciplines and fields of interest to collectively develop a multidisciplinary research project/programme?

Science Planning Group members

MembersTony Capon, AustraliaYong Guan Zhu, ChinaPhillipa Howden Chapman,

New ZealandReiko Kishi, JapanJaime Montoya , PhillipinesIndira Nath, India, ChairKatrina Proust , AustraliaNordin Hasan (Ex officio)

Method Specialist Barry Newell, Australia

ICSU ROAPBHJ Mckellar, Chair RCAP

Australia Nor Zaneedarwaty Norman,

MalaysiaHizam Jaafar, Malaysia

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– Regional Science Planning Group formed in 2010– 3 meetings - Kuala Lumpur (2) and Xiamen (1)– On-line consultations at every stage– Plan launched in June 2011 (22nd Pacific Science Congress)

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Available from www.icsu.org/asia-pacific

Need for studies of urban dynamics, including the effects of feedback and human-environment interactions

Beyond silos….taking a systems approach Understanding of multiple determinants of health and wellbeing

Commitment tourban growth limits

Commitment to effectivepublic transport

Urban healthand wellbeing

Opportunities forwalking and cycling

Air quality

Quality ofhousing

Commitment tosustainable urban

development

Populationsize

Understanding ofenvironmental determinents

of health and wellbeing

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Still more variables: feed back loops of drivers/causes

Commitment tourban growth limits

Commitment to effectivepublic transport

Viability of peri-urban agriculture

Land values

Amount of locallyproduced food

Area of peri-urbanagricultural land

Populationdensity

Urban healthand wellbeing

Opportunities forwalking and cycling

Air quality

Quality ofhousing

Commitment tosustainable urban

development

Adherence totraditional diets

Populationsize

Level of concern abouthealth and wellbeing

Impact of land-usepolicies and planning

Understanding ofenvironmental determinents

of health and wellbeing

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Recommended implementation strategy

Identify institutions keen on using systems approach in work on urban health and wellbeing;

Encourage institutions to engage in building capacity Encourage institutions to propose and undertake the pilot

projects; Bring this team into contact with potential funding agencies

to support the research Use the exemplar pilot studies as a base for outreach

program to get city administrators and governors to support and use the systems approach for better evidence-based decision making.

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Implementation of the science plan – began 2012

1. Capacity building – particular attention - utility of the systems approach to a

complex problem

2. Development of exemplar research projects– centered on 6 cities (Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Pune,

Xiamen, Taipei)– serve as examples– how the systems approach can deliver better outcomes

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• Pre-scoping Workshop, Hyderabad, June 2012.– Identifying needs and priorities (nutrition and

health, waste management, informal settlements, urban transport; vector-borne disease / communicable diseases added in 2nd workshop)

– Explored potential research teams with merit and output-oriented focus

– Discussed possibilities for research funding and support

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Scoping Workshop Bangkok, August 2012

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Reviewed concept proposals received (6/8 accepted for development to full proposal)

Aims of workshop: • clarification of research aims of projects, • identification of training activities in systems approaches, • identification of the complementary activities required for

successful management of pilot projects• Agreement of selected projects

– Compulsory design features (August 2012):• Used systems thinking via the CCM approach• Recognise that urban-health problems are multi-

sectoral, and solving them require multi- disciplinary approaches, and

• Projects takes into account the interests of a wide range of stakeholders

– Regional Steering Committee formed• Chair Prof Javed Iqbal• Members Profs Sootiporn Chittmittrapap, Tony Capon,

Ramachandran, Katrina Proust, Nordin Hasan (Ex officio)

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Capacity building

• Proposals and Dynamic Modelling Workshop, Kuala Lumpur January 2013– Leaders of selected projects with advanced copies

of projects proposals– Assistance to finalise proposals for submission to

funding bodies– Introduction to dynamic modelling and

collaborative conceptual modelling (CCM) methodologies

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Thailand pilot projectUnderstanding sustainable local food production and food security on the edge of an urban area

Taiwan pilot project:Planning Green Transportation for Better Urban Health under Climate Change

Final remarks

• The ICSU International Programme Office (IPO) on Urban Health and Wellbeing will be launched in December 2014

• Host: Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Institute of Urban Environment, Xiamen

• The pilot projects developed by ICSUROAP thus far will be further coordinated by the IPO

• Approach fits very well as a tool for planning multidisciplinary integrated research the core concept underlying new 10-year global platform for research on global sustainability Future Earth

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Thank you for your attention!