The idea that ‘problems don’t see borders’ is never more true than in community planning: housing shortages don’t stop at municipal boundaries; emissions don’t respect borders; transportation challenges don’t restrict themselves to a single municipal jurisdiction within a larger area.

In collaboration with partners in communities across the province, BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) is continuing its speaker series to bring fresh ideas for healthy public policy to local and Indigenous government leaders in B.C. Healthy public policy is a powerful tool for local governments to meaningfully improve the lives of their constituents.

The past few years have seen B.C. endure an accelerated and diverse range of emergencies, including fire, flood, heat, extreme cold and COVID-19, with more anticipated to arrive in the face of the compounding forces of accelerated climate change.

Housing affordability is a key issue for many local governments across the province. Its effects can be felt across a community through secondary impacts such as homelessness, labour shortages, strained transportation networks, hampered local economic development and diminished participation in civic life.

Many communities in B.C. are exploring the use of land acquisition strategies to proactively respond to these challenges, guide decision-making and help create property portfolios that lend themselves to the community’s strategic priorities and goals.

In collaboration with partners in communities across the province, BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) is launching a new speaker series to bring fresh ideas for healthy public policy to local and Indigenous government leaders in B.C.

Through the application of evaluation practices, evaluators have the power to influence policies and mitigate systemic inequities that negatively impact our health and well-being. At BC Healthy Communities and the Canadian Evaluation Society – BC Chapter (CESBC), we know that many community organizations and their members incorporate evaluation practices into their work without realizing it, highlighting that you don't need to be an “evaluator” to perform evaluation work and contribute to healthy, equitable policy development.

The Local Government Leaders Speaker Series on Creating Healthy Public Policy is supported by PlanH, a collaboration between BC Healthy Communities Society and the BC Ministry of Health.

For communities across Canada, 2020 was an especially trying year. However, the difficulties we are all facing continue to impact community members to varying degrees. Though inequities existed in our communities prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, current challenges have amplified these differences. Given all we have learned through our past and present experiences, how can we put equity into action to create greater well-being for all community members?