wellbeing
Flash in the Pan Jan → Full‑Tilt Feb →…
From ice on the allotment to the first tulip, it’s been a packed start to 2026, and given I can’t rely on telepathy to communicate what both myself and Urban Habitats have been working on… here’s a round‑up of the past few months.
1. Article, TCPA Journal | Planning for Healthy Places: guidance that ‘hits the nail on the head’ for getting health into local plans in England
The year began with a writing sprint for a practitioner‑focused piece for the TCPA Journal, building on insights from the TRUUD programme and interviews with planners and public health professionals across England. The article focuses on what really works when trying to embed health in local plans and why.
Look out for the piece in the next issue of the TCPA Journal! An extended research article is also nearly there, so look hoping to see that published later in the year.
A big thanks to folk who have supported and informed this work including: Dr Emma Bird, Prof Judi Kidger, Prof Jane Powell, Gemma Hyde, Dr Anna Le Gouais and editor Georgina Griffiths.
2. Conference Chairing | Spatial planning for health: natural spaces, healthy places. Public Health Wales
It was a pleasure to chair this annual event again, exploring how planning contributes to health creation. Highlights including a wonderfully varied and well curated speaker line‑up were expertly captured in these visual notes by the talented Eleanor Beer.
We saw lots of creative model‑making in the afternoon session (including some surprisingly realistic lettuce‑leaf trees
The day also previewed the new Wales HIA Regulations guidance.
This new Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU) guidance is now published, supporting public bodies to implement the 2025 HIA Regulations in Wales, an exciting and important milestone for HIA in Wales. Access the guide here!
With thanks to Cheryl Williams, Prof. Liz Green, and the wider WHIASU team.
3. Health Impact Assessment training for local authorities in England
Urban Habitats contributed to two introductory HIA courses for UWE Bristol with 50 participants over including:
- a two day online programme for practitioners in the North East, commissioned by OHID
- an in‑person course for Oxfordshire County Council
The courses have been coordinated by Dr Michael Buser and Dr Heather Rumble at UWE Bristol and it was brilliant to have the opportunity to work Dr Katie Hirono and Michael Chang on these sessions too! Having multiple experts in the room brought real value for participants and was a welcome contrast to navigating solo delivery.
4. Urban Land Institute UK Conference and site visit to Canada Water
Having completed the ULI Health Leaders programme in 2025 I was keen to make the most of this network in 2026. The UK conference at Canada Water was a great opportunity to engage with members across real estate, investment, and development.
As someone focused on public health, I felt a little like a fish out of water… but it proved a good way to stand out! I even managed to hand over a copy of our Healthy Greater Cambridge report to the CEO of the Cambridge Growth Company.
Key takeaways:
- the role of evidence in investment decisions especially the balance of quantitative metrics alongside ‘sentiment’ as data
- Canada Water as a strong example of reuse and retrofit done well
I also managed to fit in a trip to the London Transport Museum looking at the history of development and transit including ‘Metroland’. A flying visit to Ebbsfleet Garden City rounded off the trip where it was great to see some of the work Community Development Manager, Mary Rouse is engaged in. Mary is also one of the 2026 ULI Health Leaders along with Andrew Gunther & Carrie Wood from the UK.
What We’ve Been Reading
Two standout papers recently:
A global scoping review unpacking the everyday craft of getting evidence into policy and practice in local contexts. Key findings include:
- identified approaches to knowledge mobilisation (the process leading to impact / real world change)
- features of these approaches and implications for people working in this space
Key gaps highlighted:
- evaluation of knowledge mobilisation activities (something our evaluation above through TRUUD should hopefully contribute to addressing!)
- understanding demand drivers for knowledge mobilisation – do policymakers and researchers actually need / want it or does it just seem like a good idea to do?
Highly relevant to Urban Habitats’ work at the interface of research, practice, and policy.
2. Callejas et al. (2025) — Healthy Cities: A Visual Conceptual Framework for Moving Health Knowledge into Urban Planning Practice (paywall but you can contact lead author via Researchgate)
A conceptual framework for moving health knowledge into healthy cities practice. A welcome opportunity to revisit this paper judged as Highly Commended in the Healthy City Design awards in 2025.
Introduced me to boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989) and how guidance can operate at the edges of different fields and disciplines, a concept particularly useful for my evaluation of Planning for Healthy Places.
Events on Our Radar
23 March — ADPH Healthy Places
- Showcasing local examples of planning and public health in action via The Health Foundation’s Healthy Places project.
- Open to all public health and planning colleagues in local government.
Contact: healthyplaces@adph.org.uk
10 June — Festival of Place, London
My first time attending — looking forward to hearing from great speakers including Saira Ali, Leslie Kern and Chris Boardman.
20–21 October — Healthy City Design Congress: Breakdown or breakthrough? New strategies for healthier cities, Salford
I am excited to be part of the programme committee again this year.
The call for abstracts is now open: https://www.healthycitydesign.global/
What’s Occurin’ Next for Urban Habitats
Here’s what we’re focusing on over the coming months:
Supporting implementation of the Wales HIA Regulations
We are continuing our work with WHIASU:
- training for public bodies supporting implementation of Wales’ HIA Regulations
- participatory HIA workshops
- support for embedding HIA in strategic decision-making
See what training, resources, and support is available at: https://phwwhocc.co.uk/whiasu/contact-us/
Local Authority HIA Training (England)
Urban Habitats delivers tailored HIA training focused on planning, placemaking, and public health.
We also continue contributing to UWE Bristol’s introductory HIA training.
For tailored HIA training & support – all sectors: contact Urban Habitats
For UWE HIA training – planning & health: Dr Michael Buser or Dr Heather Rumble
Public Map
We are delighted to continue supporting the Wales Advisory Group as the project enters its next phase with £3.1m AHRC funding and expansion of the urban room / rural roaming room (!) concept beyond Ynys Môn / Anglesey to locations including to Wrexham and Cambridge.
Check out the Public Map website: https://publicmap.org/en
Let’s Connect
Got healthy places training, a research collaboration, or some interesting work you’d just like to chat about?
Drop me a message, always happy to connect and chat (especially it avoids having to do social media posts!).
And finally we leave you with the first tulip emerging in March after the ice of January!
