Kirklees Healthier Places Policy Lab

Introducing the Healthier Places Policy Lab

An extensive and growing body of evidence highlights the impacts of health on housing across several policy areas including housing, planning and infrastructure, and public health. The Healthy Housing Initiative (HHI) was established in 2022 to respond to the growing recognition that housing is a key determinant of health and wellbeing.

Our Healthier Places Policy Lab aims to bring together policymakers, planners, public health leaders, housing professionals, and researchers to understand how the policies that guide practice in this area can influence health and wellbeing. Through interactive workshops we aim to help develop actionable approaches for professionals to better integrate policies and practice across housing, planning, and public health in order to:

· Reduce health inequalities

· Support ageing well

· Improve mental wellbeing

· Strengthen community resilience

Workshop 1: Co-designing Healthy Places - Planning, Design and Delivery

This first session will examine the concept of healthy places and how health considerations are incorporated into housing and place-based policy across planning, design, and service delivery. Participants will explore the policy, cultural, and organisational barriers and enablers to embedding health within housing policy.

Drawing on a range of scenarios, the session will map current policy development and decision-making processes, with a focus on where and how health is positioned within these systems. The session will conclude by identifying and prioritising key policy themes for further development in Workshop 2.

Through this work we hope to:

• Continue to contribute to Kirklees Partnership ARI programme and West Yorkshire Healthy Place-making agendas.
• Strengthen collaboration between policymakers and academic researchers.
• Enhance the use of research in local and regional policy.
• Build capacity and shared learning within and across service areas.

This work is led by Prof Phil Brown and the team at the

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Host or Publisher Claire McCamley