DATE / TIME:

2017•12•04    09:00 - 2017•12•06    17:00

Location:

Penang

Call for participants

Cities are now the dominant human habitat, with more influence than ever on economies, environments and health. Despite progress, intractable urban health problems persist, often the unintended consequences of decisions in other sectors. Systems thinking offers opportunities to address such problems through a better understanding of complexity and innovative implementation of interventions in cities.

Urbanisation often exacerbates health challenges and inequities related to food production, processing, distribution, access, consumption, loss and waste. Unhealthy food choices and eating practices are linked both to obesity and other non-communicable diseases and to under- and malnutrition. Food systems can also influence infectious disease risk. The complexity of the interactions between urban food systems and health demands a transdisciplinary systems approach to enable better decision-making at all scales.

A workshop on urban food systems and health will be held in Penang from 4-6 December, 2017 under the “Systems Thinking and Place-Based Methods for Healthier Malaysian Cities” (SCHEMA) project. SCHEMA is supported by the British Council’s Newton Ungku-Omar Fund and led by the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health and Cardiff University’s Sustainable Places Research Institute, in cooperation with local partners Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s LESTARI, the Penang Institute, and Ark 22 Austrian Urban Environmental Group. This workshop will gather a diverse group of stakeholders to share knowledge, identify needs, and discover intersections that support collaborations for enhanced urban food systems and health. In working toward these goals, participants will examine key concepts from system dynamics and place-based methods and explore the use of interactive small-group activities to promote co-operative learning among a group of transdisciplinary researchers, policy-makers, urban practitioners, and members of civil society.

To apply to participate in this workshop, please download the application form and return to iigh-training@unu.edu by October 15^th, 2017. Participants must be Malaysian nationals and currently based in Malaysia. We welcome perspectives from agriculture, architecture, community organisations, food science and technology, food loss and waste, nutrition, research, policy-making, public health, town planning, urban farming, and other domains. Individuals with experience in multiple organisations, sectors and/or disciplines with an interest in urban food systems and urban health are encouraged to apply.

Additional information is available in the workshop brochure.

For further information, contact Dr. Jessie Cheah (iigh-training@unu.edu).