TY - JOUR
T1 - GroundsWell: Community-engaged and data-informed systems transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for population health – a new initiative
AU - Hunter, Ruth F.
AU - Rodgers, Sarah E.
AU - Hilton, Jeremy
AU - Clarke, Mike
AU - Garcia, Leandro
AU - Ward Thompson, Catharine
AU - Geary, Rebecca
AU - Green, Mark A.
AU - O'Neill, Ciaran
AU - Longo, Alberto
AU - Lovell, Rebecca
AU - Nurse, Alex
AU - Wheeler, Benedict W.
AU - Clement, Sarah
AU - Porroche-Escudero, Ana
AU - Mitchell, Rich
AU - Barr, Ben
AU - Barry, John
AU - Bell, Sarah
AU - Bryan, Dominic
AU - Buchan, Iain
AU - Butters, Olly
AU - Clemens, Tom
AU - Clewley, Natalie
AU - Corcoran, Rhiannon
AU - Elliott, Lewis
AU - Ellis, Geraint
AU - Guell, Cornelia
AU - Jurek-Loughrey, Anna
AU - Kee, Frank
AU - Maguire, Aideen
AU - Maskell, Simon
AU - Murtagh, Brendan
AU - Smith, Grahame
AU - Taylor, Timothy
AU - Jepson, Ruth
N1 - © 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/9/21
Y1 - 2022/9/21
N2 - Natural environments, such as parks, woodlands and lakes, have positive impacts on health and wellbeing. Urban Green and Blue Spaces (UGBS), and the activities that take place in them, can significantly influence the health outcomes of all communities, and reduce health inequalities. Improving access and quality of UGBS needs understanding of the range of systems (e.g. planning, transport, environment, community) in which UGBS are located. UGBS offers an ideal exemplar for testing systems innovations as it reflects place-based and whole society processes, with potential to reduce non-communicable disease (NCD) risk and associated social inequalities in health. UGBS can impact multiple behavioural and environmental aetiological pathways. However, the systems which desire, design, develop, and deliver UGBS are fragmented and siloed, with ineffective mechanisms for data generation, knowledge exchange and mobilisation. Further, UGBS need to be co-designed with and by those whose health could benefit most from them, so they are appropriate, accessible, valued and used well. This paper describes a major new prevention research programme and partnership, GroundsWell, which aims to transform UGBS-related systems by improving how we plan, design, evaluate and manage UGBS so that it benefits all communities, especially those who are in poorest health. We use a broad definition of health to include physical, mental, social wellbeing and quality of life. Our objectives are to transform systems so that UGBS are planned, developed, implemented, maintained and evaluated with our communities and data systems to enhance health and reduce inequalities. GroundsWell will use interdisciplinary, problem-solving approaches to accelerate and optimise community collaborations among citizens, users, implementers, policymakers and researchers to impact research, policy, practice and active citizenship. GroundsWell will be shaped and developed in three pioneer cities (Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool) and their regional contexts, with embedded translational mechanisms to ensure that outputs and impact have UK-wide and international application.
AB - Natural environments, such as parks, woodlands and lakes, have positive impacts on health and wellbeing. Urban Green and Blue Spaces (UGBS), and the activities that take place in them, can significantly influence the health outcomes of all communities, and reduce health inequalities. Improving access and quality of UGBS needs understanding of the range of systems (e.g. planning, transport, environment, community) in which UGBS are located. UGBS offers an ideal exemplar for testing systems innovations as it reflects place-based and whole society processes, with potential to reduce non-communicable disease (NCD) risk and associated social inequalities in health. UGBS can impact multiple behavioural and environmental aetiological pathways. However, the systems which desire, design, develop, and deliver UGBS are fragmented and siloed, with ineffective mechanisms for data generation, knowledge exchange and mobilisation. Further, UGBS need to be co-designed with and by those whose health could benefit most from them, so they are appropriate, accessible, valued and used well. This paper describes a major new prevention research programme and partnership, GroundsWell, which aims to transform UGBS-related systems by improving how we plan, design, evaluate and manage UGBS so that it benefits all communities, especially those who are in poorest health. We use a broad definition of health to include physical, mental, social wellbeing and quality of life. Our objectives are to transform systems so that UGBS are planned, developed, implemented, maintained and evaluated with our communities and data systems to enhance health and reduce inequalities. GroundsWell will use interdisciplinary, problem-solving approaches to accelerate and optimise community collaborations among citizens, users, implementers, policymakers and researchers to impact research, policy, practice and active citizenship. GroundsWell will be shaped and developed in three pioneer cities (Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool) and their regional contexts, with embedded translational mechanisms to ensure that outputs and impact have UK-wide and international application.
KW - Public health
KW - non-communicable disease
KW - green and blue space
KW - complex systems
KW - data science
KW - citizen science
KW - interdisciplinary
KW - health inequalities
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85152955898
U2 - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18175.1
DO - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18175.1
M3 - Article
SN - 2398-502X
VL - 7
JO - Wellcome Open Research
JF - Wellcome Open Research
M1 - 237
ER -