Urban Strategies for Health Promotion
A guided tour through Groningen, one of the Netherlands’ oldest cities and saturated with architectural gems designed by international star designers, kick starts a Summer School that introduces its participants to the ins and outs of today’s healthy cities concept.
Improving public health by architectural and urban interventions is nothing new. Since the introduction of sewage systems in the mid-nineteenth century, planners and engineers continued to add new methods and design approaches that should help to make citizens healthier. Although these approaches were triggered by concrete problems in specific urban settings, they as valid today as in the context that produced them.
Today’s cities are a collage of districts and neighborhoods from different periods. They exemplify different urban models that are characteristic for the time they were designed. After the general introduction to the city, the participants will get to know four of these models, their primary task being to compare their health effects and explore ways to improve them. All except the most recent neighborhoods have witnessed waves of change – sometimes they were modified several times. In terms of public health, cities show striking inequalities and the division lines often coincides with the borders between urban districts and neighborhoods. The Summer School results in a comparative study that combines
- the analysis of the architectural and urban characteristics;
- mapping of the daily rhythms of the inhabitants, and
- an examination of public health data.
Finally, the policies to enhance equitably health should be discussed (for architects and urbanists, designs can be a form to express these policies).
This Summer School confronts its participants with the need to develop multi- and transdisciplinary ways of working that combine the expertise of spatial designers, governance experts, community workers, public health experts, professionals in the field of urban studies, architectural and urban historians, and cultural historians. This allows them to get a complete picture of (health) inequalities in Western European cities and address all aspects of the problem in an integrated way.
While working on the city, the Summer School invites its participants to work on their own health: they need to do a lot of walking and cycling, and will have ample opportunities to enjoy outdoor recreation and sports.
The programme is based on two pillars: lectures, and work onsite.
Course information
Target group
This summer school is designed for students at undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate level, professionals interested in or involved in urbanism and health.
The topic, health promotion by architectural and urban interventions, is multidisciplinary almost by default. The target groups reflect this: students who wish to explore the crossroads between public health, architecture and urbanism, and governance are likely to have different backgrounds: architectural and urban history, urban history, cultural history, urban studies, public health, medical sciences, urban governance, architectural and urban design.
Programme
The summer school will begin on Sunday 7 July at 5PM with welcoming drinks. The educational part starts on Monday 8 July at 9AM and ends on Friday 12 July at 5PM.
Learning outcomes
After this course you will be able to:
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Critically assess the ways in which (local) authorities have developed strategies to promote (public) health since the late 19th century
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Distinguish between a variety of health promotion strategies through time and space
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Analyse the impact and effectiveness of (public) health policies, past and present
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Interlink historical legacies and trajectories of health promotion to topical challenges with regard to (public) health promotion in the city
Workload + certificate
The total workload for this summer school is 50 hours and consists of:
- Preparatory readings : 10 hours
- Lectures: 12 hours
- Excursions and fieldwork: 12 hours
- Workshop, and assignment (presentation): 18 hours
- Additional research and fieldwork: 10 hours
Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 50 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.
Fees
The fee (€ 255) includes:
- Bus tour
- bike rentals
- lunches
- coffee/tea breaks
- opening dinner
- farewell dinner
Housing (5 nights, from Monday 1 July to Saturday 6 July, in an international student house is available upon request for an additional € 215. For more information about accommodation, please see the central housing page.
Please note that transportation to and from Groningen is excluded from the fee.
Application information
To apply, kindly fill out the online application form. Please submit the following documents with your application:
- CV (max. 2 pages)
- Motivation letter (max. 1 page)
The deadline for application is 1 May 2019.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/summer_schools_2019/urban_strategies/