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Public health matters for society, and the benefits of prevention have been clearly demonstrated: (1) a healthy population is a social good. Not having a disease or injury in the [...]

We are a group of public health (PH) academics and physician leaders who are passionate about health in our communities and our country. We are alarmed by growing weaknesses in [...]

The Canadian Journal of Public Health is launching a new section entitled Innovations in Policy and Practice, which will be a showcase for and reflection on innovative public health policy and practice in Canada. The section will focus on articles that describe the development and implementation of innovative policies and practices in Canada and/or that reflect on the experience of practitioners in implementation. The section is explicitly intended to attract practitioners as both readers and authors. This will involve a number of innovations for the Journal that will make the role of author easier for practitioners and result in published material that is attractive and useful, while retaining a scholarly approach. In addition, the review process for this section will be oriented to the reality of practice and undertaken by 'practitioner-scholars' in a collegial and non-anonymous manner. KEY WORDS: Publishing; diffusion of innovation; public health practice; policy; peer review; research Can J Public Health 2015;106(6):e343-e347 doi: 10.17269/CJPH.106.5280 La Revue canadienne de sante publique lance une nouvelle rubrique intitulee <>; ce sera a la fois une vitrine pour les politiques et les pratiques de sante publique novatrices au Canada et une occasion d'y reflechir. Les articles de cette rubrique decriront l'elaboration et la mise en oeuvre de politiques et de pratiques novatrices au Canada et/ou reflechiront aux experiences de mise en oeuvre de praticiens. C'est une rubrique qui veut expressement attirer les praticiens, autant comme lecteurs que comme auteurs. Ceci suppose plusieurs innovations pour la Revue afin de mettre le role d'auteur a la portee des praticiens et de publier des articles attirants et utiles a la fois, tout en conservant une demarche scientifique. En outre, l'evaluation des articles de la rubrique sera axee sur la realite de la pratique et confiee a des <> de facon collegiale et non anonyme. MOTS CLES: edition; diffusion des innovations; pratique en sante publique; politique; evaluation de la recherche par des pairs doi: 10.17269/CJPH.106.5280, Innovations in public health policy and practice are occurring all the time across Canada. Only too often, however, they are not well reported and their potential is not fully realized. [...]

Humanity is both an animal species that evolved within and is dependent upon natural ecosystems and a social animal that exists within the social systems we have created. Our health is dependent upon both these systems--natural and social--functioning well, and indeed upon their interactions. Yet our approach to improving the health of the population over the past few decades has been largely, if not exclusively, focused on the social determinants of health. A recent Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) Discussion Document and the technical report on which it is based seek to strike a more balanced approach. First, they document the dramatic and rapid global ecological changes that humans have created and argue that they are a significant threat to the health of the population in the 21st century. Second, they identify the underlying social, cultural and economic forces that are driving these changes. Third, they argue that we need to take an eco-social approach in population health promotion, recognizing the interactions between the ecological and social determinants of health. Such an approach could be considered to be 'Population health promotion 2.0', and it has profound implications for the practice of public health. KEY WORDS: Health promotion; ecosystem; ecological and environmental phenomena; social determinants of health L'humanite est a la fois une espece animale qui a evolue dans des ecosystemes naturels et qui en depend et un animal social qui vit dans des systemes sociaux que nous avons crees. Notre sante depend du bon fonctionnement de ces systemes naturels et sociaux et de leur interaction. Pourtant, notre demarche pour ameliorer la sante de la population des dernieres decennies a ete axee largement, voire exclusivement, sur les determinants sociaux de la sante. Un recent document de travail de l'Association canadienne de sante publique et le rapport technique sur lequel il est fonde tentent de trouver une demarche mieux equilibree. D'abord, ils documentent les changements ecologiques dramatiques et rapides que les hommes ont suscites et affirment qu'ils sont une importante menace pour la sante de la population au 21e siecle. Ensuite, ils cernent les forces sociales, culturelles et economiques sous-jacentes qui suscitent ces changements. Enfin, ils avancent que nous devons adopter une demarche ecosociale dans la promotion de la sante de la population en reconnaissant les interactions entre ses determinants ecologiques et sociaux. Une telle demarche pourrait etre consideree comme la << promotion de la sante de la population 2.0 >> et aurait de profondes repercussions sur la pratique de la sante publique. MOTS CLES: promotion de la sante; ecosysteme; phenomenes ecologiques et environnementaux; determinants sociaux de la sante La traduction du resume se trouve a la fin de l'article. doi: 10.17269/CJPH.106.5161, In 1986, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion stated that the prerequisites for health include 'a stable ecosystem and sustainable resources.' (1) This was the first time that the World [...]

Advocacy: Public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy--Oxford English Dictionary In a recent editorial, (1) Louise Potvin outlined some of the ways in which public health [...]

The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was created 25 years--a whole generation--ago, and this tribute to the Charter and some of its key authors was given at the CPHA Conference in June 2011. The Charter placed on the agenda for health promotion and public health a set of issues and challenges that we are still a long way from fully addressing. Among the key ideas and values in the Charter are peace, social justice and equity, ecosystem health, empowerment, a 'whole of government' approach and the settings approach. The implementation of these concepts are now challenges for the next generation of health promoters.Key words: Health promotion; public health; future; historyLa traduction du resume se trouve a la fin de l'article.La Charte d'Ottawa pour la promotion de la sante a ete creee il y a 25 ans--toute une generation; nous avons rendu le present hommage a la Charte et a quelques-uns de ses principaux auteurs lors de la Conference de l'ACSP en juin 2011. La Charte a mis au programme de la promotion de la sante et de la sante publique un ensemble d'enjeux et de defis qui sont encore loin d'avoir ete entierement abordes. Parmi les idees et les valeurs cles de la Charte, on trouve la paix, la justice sociale et l'equite, la sante de l'ecosysteme, l'autonomisation, une approche pangouvernementale et l'approche des milieux favorables. L'application de ces notions est le defi qui attend la nouvelle generation de promoteurs de la sante.Mots cles : promotion de la sante; sante publique; futur; histoire, On November 21, 2011, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion turns 25 (1)--a quarter of a century, an entire generation old! The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) paid tribute to [...]

In this edition of the Journal, we publish our first two articles in the new section on Innovations in Policy and Practice (IPP). We launched the section in January 2016, [...]

This is Public Health: A Canadian History Canadian Public Health Association; 2010; http://cpha100.ca/history/history-e-book First, what a grand thing it is that the Canadian Public Health Association is 100 years old, [...]

Dear Editor, The Canadian Public Health Association Conference is an unparalleled space in which to reflect on how public health system(s) function in Canada. This past June, we came together [...]

Climate change will likely exacerbate already existing urban social inequities and health risks, thereby exacerbating existing urban health inequities. Cities in low- and middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable. Urbanization is both a cause of and potential solution to global climate change. Most population growth in the foreseeable future will occur in urban areas primarily in developing countries. How this growth is managed has enormous implications for climate change given the increasing concentration and magnitude of economic production in urban localities, as well as the higher consumption practices of urbanites, especially the middle classes, compared to rural populations. There is still much to learn about the extent to which climate change affects urban health equity and what can be done effectively in different socio-political and socio-economic contexts to improve the health of urban dwelling humans and the environment. But it is clear that equity-oriented climate change adaptation means attention to the social conditions in which urban populations live-this is not just a climate change policy issue, it requires inter-sectoral action. Policies and programs in urban planning and design, workplace health and safety, and urban agriculture can help mitigate further climate change and adapt to existing climate change. If done well, these will also be good for urban health equity.

The importance of reestablishing the link between urban planning and public health has been recognized in recent decades; this paper focuses on the relationship between urban planning/design and health equity, especially in cities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The physical urban environment can be shaped through various planning and design processes including urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, infrastructure design, architecture, and transport planning. The resultant urban environment has important impacts on the health of the people who live and work there. Urban planning and design processes can also affect health equity through shaping the extent to which the physical urban environments of different parts of cities facilitate the availability of adequate housing and basic infrastructure, equitable access to the other benefits of urban life, a safe living environment, a healthy natural environment, food security and healthy nutrition, and an urban environment conducive to outdoor physical activity. A new research and action agenda for the urban environment and health equity in LMICs should consist of four main components. We need to better understand intra-urban health inequities in LMICs; we need to better understand how changes in the built environment in LMICs affect health equity; we need to explore ways of successfully planning, designing, and implementing improved health/health equity; and we need to develop evidence-based recommendations for healthy urban planning/design in LMICs.

All three of the interacting aspects of daily urban life (physical environment, social conditions, and the added pressure of climate change) that affect health inequities are nested within the concept of urban governance, which has the task of understanding and managing the interactions among these different factors so that all three can be improved together and coherently. Governance is defined as: "the process of collective decision making and processes by which decisions are implemented or not implemented": it is concerned with the distribution, exercise, and consequences of power. Although there appears to be general agreement that the quality of governance is important for development, much less agreement appears to exist on what the concept really implies and how it should be used. Our review of the literature confirmed significant variation in meaning as well as in the practice of urban governance arrangements. The review found that the linkage between governance practices and health equity is under-researched and/or has been neglected. Reconnecting the fields of urban planning, social sciences, and public health are essential "not only for improving local governance, but also for understanding and addressing global political change" for enhanced urban health equity. Social mobilization, empowering governance, and improved knowledge for sustainable and equitable development in urban settings is urgently needed. A set of strategic research questions are suggested.

Urban living is the new reality for the majority of the world's population. Urban change is taking place in a context of other global challenges--economic globalization, climate change, financial crises, energy and food insecurity, old and emerging armed conflicts, as well as the changing patterns of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. These health and social problems, in countries with different levels of infrastructure and health system preparedness, pose significant development challenges in the 21st century. In all countries, rich and poor, the move to urban living has been both good and bad for population health, and has contributed to the unequal distribution of health both within countries (the urban-rural divide) and within cities (the rich-poor divide). In this series of papers, we demonstrate that urban planning and design and urban social conditions can be good or bad for human health and health equity depending on how they are set up. We argue that climate change mitigation and adaptation need to go hand-in-hand with efforts to achieve health equity through action in the social determinants. And we highlight how different forms of governance can shape agendas, policies, and programs in ways that are inclusive and health-promoting or perpetuate social exclusion, inequitable distribution of resources, and the inequities in health associated with that. While today we can describe many of the features of a healthy and sustainable city, and the governance and planning processes needed to achieve these ends, there is still much to learn, especially with respect to tailoring these concepts and applying them in the cities of lower- and middle-income countries. By outlining an integrated research agenda, we aim to assist researchers, policy makers, service providers, and funding bodies/donors to better support, coordinate, and undertake research that is organized around a conceptual framework that positions health, equity, and sustainability as central policy goals for urban management.

Urban health promotion is not simply a matter of the right interventions, or even the necessary resources. Urban (and indeed global) health depends to an important extent on governance, the institutions and processes through which societies manage the course of events. This paper describes the concept of governance, distinguishing between reforms aimed at improving how government works and innovations that more fundamentally reinvent governance by developing new institutions and processes of local stakeholder control. The paper highlights strategies urban governors can use to maximize their influence on the national and international decisions that structure urban life. It concludes with some observations on the limitations of local governance strategies and the importance of establishing a "virtuous circuit" of governance through which urban dwellers play a greater role in the formation and implementation of policy at the national and global levels.