Development of evidence-based guidelines for designing green opens spaces to promote urban health through physical activity: Experience from Slovenia

Presentation of the poster at the 17th International Conference on Urban Health

This year’s theme of the 17th International Conference on Urban Health is »Transforming Our Collective Urban Future: Learning from Covid-19«. The conference will take place virtually from 6 to 8 July 2021 and will cover six topics related to the health and the urban environment issues: urban health inequities, transforming built environments, urban governance and public health systems, urban health over the lifecourse, climate change and urban health, urban health in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On Tuesday, June 6, 2021 at 3:30 pm , Dr. Vita Žlender will present a poster entitled »Development of evidence-based guidelines for designing green opens spaces to promote urban health through physical activity: Experience from Slovenia«. The authors of the poster and project member of the »Ven za zdravje« project (Ina Šuklje Erjavec, Vita Žlender and Jana Kozamernik) participated in the preparation of the guidelines for the Ministry of Health in 2019.

You can watch a short poster pitch here.

Abstract:
»Publicly accessible green open spaces such as parks, playgrounds and urban forests are key environments within urban tissue for promotion of physical activity and provision of many other public health benefits, including psychological relief and stress reduction, and the mitigation of various harmful factors such as excessive heat, noise, and air and water pollution. To expertly integrate spatial planning and public health topics, the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (UIRS) in 2017 launched the programme entitled »Ven za zdravje« (Going out to stay healthy) – Expert basis for spatial planning of green areas, aimed at promoting physical activity of citizens. The programme was based on the preparation of a comprehensive overview of diverse aspects relating to planning, improvement, and management of green areas to achieve healthy and quality living environment. Its purpose was to stimulate more quality-of-life oriented planning and development of towns and settlements in Slovenia and develop expertise for providing spatial determinants for an active and healthy lifestyles for citizens of all ages and social groups. Accordingly, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of current national legislation and documents related to public health, physical activity promotion and spatial planning. We also carried out workshops and discussions with relevant public health experts, decision makers and planners. The main outcome of the programme were guidelines for green space planning to support municipalities in devising relevant approaches and promote physical activity of the population. The proposed approach was tested on a pilot study in the municipality of Kočevje in Slovenia.«

The conference program can be found at the link.