Impact on Urban Health OnePlanet

Impact on Urban Health

Case Study

Health, London

Impact on Urban Health, a part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation

OnePlanet worked with Impact on Urban Health to tackle the intertwined challenges of climate change and public health in Lambeth and Southwark. OnePlanet integrated Impact on Urban Health’s strategies that address health inequalities into a single ecosystem while also considering the broader impact of climate change. This process highlighted the potential of cross-programmatic collaboration, engaging directly with local communities, and creating sustainable health initiatives that can withstand and adapt to environmental changes.

Challenges

Impact on Urban Health faces significant challenges stemming from the complex interplay between climate change and health inequalities in Lambeth and Southwark. These challenges include:

increasing rates of childhood obesity, long-term health conditions exacerbated by environmental factors,
the adverse effects of air pollution on vulnerable populations,
the mental health strains associated with urban living conditions.

These issues highlighted the need for a nuanced approach that can address both climate and health concerns simultaneously, prompting the collaboration with OnePlanet to deploy systems mapping technology for comprehensive, sustainable solutions.

OnePlanet Solution

Systems Mapping: Utilised to identify and visualise the complex relationships between climate change factors and health outcomes.
Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitated collaboration between local authorities, healthcare providers, and communities to align efforts.
Strategic Planning: Supported the development of targeted interventions based on systems mapping insights.
Community Involvement: Enhanced local engagement by ensuring solutions are grounded in community needs and perspectives. This included providing support to Incredible Edible Lambeth to map food projects across the Borough as well as Together We Ride, bringing more people into cycling for a healthier and more active lifestyle:

Benefits and Return on Investment

Provided evidence-based insights to inform and shape public health and environmental policies for long-term benefits, which identified the following benefits:

Health improvements through direct enhancements in community projects reducing health inequalities.
Decreased healthcare costs through enhancement of project-based preventative measures against climate-related health issues.
Facilitation of stronger community ties and participation in health and environmental initiatives.