SURREAL — Systems approach of URban enviRonmEnts and heALth

Results in brief

Systems approach of URban enviRonmEnts and heALth

Across the world, demographic growth, primary energy uses, vehicle mobility and urbanization come with enormous public health challenges, such as cardiometabolic and mental health problems. Increasingly, it is recognized that an integrated, comprehensive approach toward the physical, social, and institutional factors that shape urban health is lacking and that research and policies on urban health is in need for a systems approach. SURREAL addresses these needs by developing a solid understanding of the complex and dynamic relationships between exposures to urban environments, behaviors of people and relationships with health and health equity in the urban health system. Effective interventions at individual and urban level to improve health and health equity are identified and tested. The 15 ESRs are trained to work in an interdisciplinary and intersectoral systems approach. To that purpose, SURREAL draws upon interactions between academic disciplines such as epidemiology, public health, human movement science, psychology, sociology, geography, and urban planning and a wide range of entities such as medical centres, public authorities, firms, and NGOs as well as citizens. Equipped with this expertise and supported by innovative training formats, such as Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLiP), SURREAL trains the next generation of professionals in urban health.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Worldwide, the health status of people is increasingly put under pressure by demographic growth, primary energy uses, mobility and urbanization. Every year in EU countries on average more than 1.2 million people die prematurely. However, large disparities in life expectancy in terms of socio-economic status, gender, age and ethnicity exist. Especially, cities are creating the conditions for health problems, such as sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, air and other pollutions and stress. On the other hand, cities also offer opportunities for structural and long-lasting healthy transformations in lifestyles and health status. However, the big question is how to achieve these transformations in a situation where complexity of urban health problems is increasing, involving many actors. Increasingly, it is recognized that disciplinary and sectoral approaches no longer suffice but that an integrated, holistic approach toward the physical, social and institutional factors that shape urban health and health inequalities is necessary. In such a systems approach in research and policies on urban health, health is no longer emerging from isolated causal effects only but in addition from the (non)linear positive and negative feedback loops between the various features of a system over time. Based on a systems approach and new alliances across academic disciplines (epidemiology, public health, movement science, psychology, geography, sociology) and sectors (citizens, entrepreneurs, medical centers, public authorities, NGOs) SURREAL offers a unique, creative and single training network for 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to co-create joint understandings of the complex urban health system and to co-design and implement effective interventions in the system. Equipped with this expertise and supported by innovative training formats, such as Collaborative Learning in Practice, SURREAL trains the next generation of professionals in urban health.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

LISER - LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH · Esch Sur AlzetteCoordinatorLuxembourg
ERASMUS UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM ROTTERDAM · RotterdamNetherlands
FUNDACION PRIVADA INSTITUTO DE SALUD GLOBAL BARCELONA · BarcelonaSpain
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE · ParisFrance
TARTU ULIKOOL · TartuEstonia
TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY · Tel AvivIsrael
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM · JerusalemIsrael
UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM UTRECHT · UtrechtNetherlands
UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG · ESCH-SUR-ALZETTELuxembourg
UNIVERSITEIT HASSELT · HasseltBelgium
WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY · WageningenNetherlands

SURREAL · Systems approach of URban enviRonmEnts and heALth

Results in brief

Systems approach of URban enviRonmEnts and heALth

Project objective

Participants

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