Integrative and holistic approach to health and urban sustainability underway
What: Signing of Healthy City Partnership Statement of Cooperation
Who: Kelowna Deputy Mayor Gail Given; Interior Health’s Bryan Redford; Deborah Buszard, UBC Okanagan’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal
When: Wednesday, October 29, 2 p.m.
Where: Knox Mountain gazebo (first lookout), Kelowna
UBC is teaming up with the City of Kelowna and Interior Health to examine Kelowna’s issues about sustainable growth and development.
An official signing ceremony will take place on Wednesday, October 29, at 2 p.m. at the Knox Mountain gazebo (first lookout) with the Deputy Mayor of Kelowna Gail Given, Interior Health’s Bryan Redford, and Deborah Buszard, UBC Okanagan’s Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal signing the document.
“The City of Kelowna is embarking on some new and innovative ways of shaping community growth,” says Danielle Noble-Brandt, Kelowna’s policy and planning manager. “The City is currently faced with a number of challenges related to population growth and health and these challenges are expected to grow during the next 20-plus years.”
A key approach to dealing with growth is to encourage major stakeholders to work together to plan ahead, says Keith Culver, director of the Okanagan Sustainability Institute at UBC’s Okanagan campus, adding that the Healthy City Partnership demonstrates a ground-breaking collaboration between UBC’s Okanagan campus, Interior Health, and the City of Kelowna.
“This is a really special partnership. It’s exciting to get UBC sitting at the table with not just the municipality but additionally Interior Health,” says Culver. “Collaboration between these three is based on the recognition that community growth is complex, dynamic, and multifaceted so it requires integrative, innovative research and learning,” says Culver.
The goal is to examine and act on how three of the interior’s largest and most complex institutions can utilize and leverage their diverse resources and interests in order to make headway on issues, such as community, sustainability, and health and wellness in ways that benefit the entire community.
The Healthy City Partnership will investigate a number of questions about the relation between built environment, natural environment, and the residents of the city of Kelowna. The collaboration will begin with a look at future housing and greenhouse gas emissions in Kelowna.
“We’re looking at ways we can partner with the university and the city to promote healthier lifestyles and healthier living,” says Interior Health’s Bryan Redford.
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