Public Involvement

Credit: Michael Cardus

People cannot achieve their full potential for health—physically, socially and mentally—unless they are able to participate in the decisions that impact their well-being. Thus, community involvement and participation are vital for the success of local health and well-being objectives.

Local and Indigenous governments across B.C. receive funding and supports to develop healthier public policy and facilitate community connection

Twenty-eight Indigenous and local governments in B.C. will now be able to embark on projects to improve community connection and create more equitable policies, thanks to $250,000 in new grants plus additional customized supports recently awarded by PlanH, a partnership of BC Healthy Communities Society (BCHC) and the Ministry of Health.

Complex Systems Approaches in Public Health Community of Practice: Session #4

Jan 26 2021 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Join session 4 of the Community of Practice for Complex Systems Approaches in Public Health. Optionally, bring a story of seeing and understanding a system and learn about ways to make sense of complex systems in public health.

Communities are experts in their own health challenges, says Hughes. In her role with Northern Health, she collaborates with community members across the Health Authority to enable access to the information and resources they need to support their health and well-being.

Connecting communities to health: Northern Health’s Healthy Settings Advisor Holly Hughes

“Northern B.C. was probably the last place I ever thought I would be,” says Holly Hughes, a healthy settings advisor with Northern Health. “Honestly, since I moved here, I've kind of fallen in love with it.”

2019 High Ground – Centre for Civic Governance Forum

Mar 29 2019 - 12:00am to Mar 30 2019 - 11:45pm

Columbia Institute’s Centre for Civic Governance is pleased to announce that our 2019 Centre for Civic Governance Forum will take place in Harrison Hot Springs from Friday, March 29 to Saturday, March 30.

At this special 26.5 hour event, which will take place under the banner of “Rising to the Challenge,” we aim to develop a deeper understanding of the issues shaping our times and to provide insights on how to build more inclusive, sustainable communities. There are also plenty of opportunities to network with colleagues!

Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF)

The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation works to improve understanding of issues and opportunities that are of common interest to rural residents across Canada. Their members include rural leaders, rural organizations, development practitioners, government policy makers, researchers, students, and other stakeholders both in Canada and internationally.

The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation

PlanH Regional Forums

PlanH partnered with each health authority on a series of five forums taking place in each region to take stock of: the impacts of collaborative efforts between local governments, health authorities, and other community partners; the key factors that are enabling this success; and how we can grow this impact moving forward.

Find stories, presentations from the events, photo galleries and visual notes at the following links:

Case for Cultivating Community

This article from the Tamarack Institute explores the idea of community resilience as an ability, a process and an outcome, and examines ways in which communities can become more resilient.

Find it here

Health is Everyone’s Business: Vancouver’s Healthy City Strategy

The City of Vancouver has a bold and ambitious strategy to build a healthy city for all by 2025. The Healthy City Strategy and Action Plan is a long-term plan for healthier people, healthier places, and a healthier planet. It addresses health in the broadest sense by integrating elements that influence well-being and involving diverse sectors in a shared vision of a healthy city for all residents. Driving the strategy are passionate City staff, a committed Council, and a high-profile collaborative leadership team.

Green Grants from the City of Vancouver

Vancouver's The Greenest City Fund supports projects that help work towards Vancouver becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020. Since 2012, they've funded about $2 million to over 600 projects in partnership with the Vancouver Foundation, including 609 neighbourhood small grants, 63 community grants and 93 Green Generation grants.

Exploring Community Resilience Toolkit (UK) (2012)

The toolkit was designed to support (in particular smaller) towns in the UK and Ireland to prepare for change. The compass model helps communities assess and then make plans to strengthen four aspects of resilience: healthy, engaged people; inclusive, creative culture; cross community links and a localized economy.

- Fiery Spirits Community of Practice, Carnegie UK Trust

Download (PDF)

PlanH