2017•10•16 Coimbra
From 26-29 September, 2017, the city of Coimbra, Portugal hosted the 14th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH). Drawing together experts from 65 countries, including many recognized leaders in the field, ICUH is the only global conference focused on advancing the health of people living in cities worldwide. This year’s event was devoted to the theme of Health Equity: The New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.
UNU-IIGH participated extensively at the 14th ICUH, convening two pre-formed panels: the first focused on the achievements of the UNU-IIGH co-sponsored LAC-Urban Health research network, including the newly launched Wellcome Trust-funded SALURBAL project, which will develop policy-relevant knowledge on urban health challenges in cities across Latin America. The second panel brought together researchers from UNU-MERIT (Inez Roosen), UNU-GCM (Bavo Stevens) and UNU-IIGH (José Siri) with colleague Dr. Jo Vearey from the University of Witwatersrand to explore issues related to migration and urban health. Dr. Siri also spoke in a WHO-organized panel on urban governance for health, and chaired multiple other sessions during the conference.
The ICUH also saw the launch of the new journal Cities and Health, which provides an innovative new international platform for consolidating research and know-how for city development to support human health. The journal is committed to developing a shared evidence base, encouraging better cross-disciplinary understanding and supporting critical trans-disciplinary practices. It is particularly committed to inter- and trans-disciplinary discourse and practitioner involvement. The inaugural issue features an article by UNU-IIGH visiting researcher Dr. Roderick Lawrence, former Director Dr. Anthony Capon, and Dr. Siri.