Events

  • 23 January 2013

    GCPH Seminar Series 9 Lecture 3 - Dr Joe Ravetz

    Location: Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD
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    Dr Joe Ravetz, Co-Director, Centre for Urban & Regional Ecology, School of Environment & Development, Manchester University

    Public health: exploring complex inter-connected problems, and creating complex inter-connected solutions

    Glasgow and similar places have long experience of success and failure in population health issues: but so many problems seem to be complex and inter-connected, going around in circles and needing skills and resources which aren’t there.

    This session explored the cycle of ill-health, and the multiple factors within this such as diet, unemployment, insecurity, housing, education, welfare and the health system itself. We used the Synergy Foresight method – first to explore and map the trends and causes of the cycle, and then to develop policy ideas which are also complex and inter-connected.  The method is helped by a new digital tool, the Synergy Forum, which runs in parallel to the discussions. 

    The result is a concept which is called “Urban 3.0” – a city which is not about ‘winner-takes-all’ economics or ‘first-past-the-post’ politics. The Urban 3.0 is more about bringing together the different parts – public sector, enterprise, communities – into common pathways for the transition towards healthier, more inclusive and liveable cities.

    Joe Ravetz is a leading thinker on sustainable futures for urban and regional development, and the methods and tools needed. His landmark book ‘City-Region 2020 – integrated planning for a sustainable environment’ provides new insights, based on a major case study on the future of a large conurbation. Following this the Centre for Urban & Regional Ecology (CURE) is now the base for a range of projects at the regional, UK and EU levels: its agenda covers urban development, environmental and landscape management, economic development, organisational/information studies, policy analysis and future studies. Joe is now completing his next book “Urban 3.0 – synergistic pathways for the one planet century”.

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