Barcelona Provincial Council and ISGlobal to Develop and Promote Policies for the Creation of Healthy Urban Spaces

Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) have signed a framework agreement with two main objectives: using scientific knowledge to inform public policies relating to the creation of urban environments, and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The Council’s Board approved the agreement on 10 May, 2018.

“One of ISGlobal’s core activities is the transfer of knowledge generated by scientific research to public policies and its eventual use in developing solutions that benefit society as a whole. In this context, this partnership with Barcelona’s Provincial Council is a great step forward for our institute, especially as the Council has shown a special interest in implementing the SDGs at the local level,” explains Antoni Plasència, the Director of ISGlobal.

Once the common objectives have been identified and defined, the agreement between the two institutions provides for the implementation of collaborative projects designed to foment the translation of scientific knowledge to local government policies and for the diffusion among professionals and local government institutions of the latest scientific evidence on health and the urban environment, with particular attention to issues such as air and noise pollution, physical activity, temperature, and exposure to green spaces.

The framework agreement also provides for the possibility of developing tools designed to facilitate the incorporation of health in the design and management of urban environments and of designing methodologies for assessing the health impact of specific measures and interventions.

One of the activities that may be undertaken jointly is the training of professionals working for local government in fundamental health issues directly related to the urban environment.

Finally, the two institutions have committed to working together to implement international cooperation policies and projects that will contribute to the achievement of the health-related SDGs in developing countries.