In the late nineteen eighties, Belfast became part of the World Health Organisation's Healthy Cities Project. The aim was to get as many institutions as possible to make health central to their planning and to give the diverse communities of Belfast a real say in their future. What were the challenges they faced? What solutions did they evolve? In this album Healthy Cities founder member Ilona Kickbusch and Belfast health promotion professionals Joan Devlin, David Stewart and Mary Black explore the history of this important health project. They reveal the crucial role that partnerships across both public and private bodies played in the success of the project. This material, recorded in 2006, forms part of The Open University course K311 Promoting public health: skills, perspectives and practice.
Transcript -- David Stewart on how Northern Ireland is disadvantaged by the British government's Barnett Formula and its complex local government system
Transcript -- David Stewart on how Northern Ireland's sectarian divide can throw up unexpected health issues such as problems finding sufficient space to exercise.
Mary Black of the NW Belfast Health Action Zone explains how Northern Ireland's difficult political situation added an extra layer of challenge to implementing the Healthy Cities policy,
Transcript -- Mary Black of the NW Belfast Health Action Zone explains how Northern Ireland's difficult political situation added an extra layer of challenge to implementing the Healthy Cities policy,
Transcript -- Mary Black on how Health Action Zones were set up in Belfast to address significant inequalities in health in different parts of the city.
Mary Black on how health workers in Belfast realised that the real challenge was to bring together different stakeholders and get them to work together in an integrated way.
Transcript -- Mary Black on how health workers in Belfast realised that the real challenge was to bring together different stakeholders and get them to work together in an integrated way.
Transcript -- Mary Black on how, for partnerships to succeed, there must be careful consideration of all the different players involved and a strong guiding vision.
Mary Black on how the Belfast Healthy Cities project has never had sufficient funding of its own so it has always needed to find ways to lever funding out of a variety of partners.
Transcript -- Mary Black on how the Belfast Healthy Cities project has never had sufficient funding of its own so it has always needed to find ways to lever funding out of a variety of partners.