3. Umwelt und Entwicklung

3.1. Folgeprozess von Rio (IDA-Rio) – Nachhaltige Entwicklung Das Jahr 2001 stellte für die Entwicklungspolitik in der Schweiz eine Übergangszeit dar. Der interdepartementale Ausschuss für die Folgearbeiten von Rio (IDA-Rio) begann mit den Vorbereitungen für die Konferenz „Rio +10”, die zehn Jahre nach Rio im September 2002 in Johannesburg stattfinden soll. Ausserdem setzte der Ausschuss die Umsetzung des 1999 lancierten „Projekts nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Schweiz” fort. Vor diesem Hinte..

3. Umwelt und Entwicklung

3.1. Folgeprozess von Rio (IDA-Rio) – Nachhaltige Entwicklung Das Jahr 2001 stellte für die Entwicklungspolitik in der Schweiz eine Übergangszeit dar. Der interdepartementale Ausschuss für die Folgearbeiten von Rio (IDA-Rio) begann mit den Vorbereitungen für die Konferenz „Rio +10”, die zehn Jahre nach Rio im September 2002 in Johannesburg stattfinden soll. Ausserdem setzte der Ausschuss die Umsetzung des 1999 lancierten „Projekts nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Schweiz” fort. Vor diesem Hinte..

3. Umwelt und Entwicklung

3.1. Folgeprozess von Rio (IDA-Rio) – Nachhaltige Entwicklung Das Jahr 2001 stellte für die Entwicklungspolitik in der Schweiz eine Übergangszeit dar. Der interdepartementale Ausschuss für die Folgearbeiten von Rio (IDA-Rio) begann mit den Vorbereitungen für die Konferenz „Rio +10”, die zehn Jahre nach Rio im September 2002 in Johannesburg stattfinden soll. Ausserdem setzte der Ausschuss die Umsetzung des 1999 lancierten „Projekts nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Schweiz” fort. Vor diesem Hinte..

3. Environnement et développement

3.1. Le suivi de Rio (CIRIO) – Développement durable L’année 2001 a constitué une période de transition pour la politique de développement durable en Suisse. Le Comité interdépartemental pour le suivi de Rio (CIRio) a entamé les préparatifs pour la Conférence décennale « Rio +10 », qui se tiendra à Johannesburg en septembre 2002, et a poursuivi la mise en œuvre du « Projet développement durable en Suisse », lancé en 1999. Dans cette perspective, l’Office fédéral du développement territorial (..

Positive association of walking with the use of public transport in Switzerland

Promoting physical activity and active transport strategies are among the “best buys” for tackling the risk factors of noncommunicable diseases (WHO Global status report on noncommunicable diseases, 2010). Operationalising such insights requires policies favourable to health in the transport sector. In Switzerland and many other countries, the transport sector has its own agenda which includes increasing walking, cycling and public transport patronage, and reducing car use – or at least limiting it to areas or purposes not easily covered by other transport modes. It is clear to most transport sector professionals that reducing car use and favouring other modes not only alleviates traffic congestion, but also contributes to reducing noise, air pollution, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission. However, many transport strategies have trouble integrating health into their argumentation plans. Air pollution is sometimes mentioned, however improvements in motor and fuel quality standards have weakened this argument. What remains under-explored is the potential of a reduction in car use and/or an increase in public transport use to increase daily walking. Given the current global epidemic of sedentariness, overweight and obesity, this deserves to be explored further. We used the Swiss transport micro-survey (MTMT2010) – a complex database where 62’868 people describe their transport behaviour on randomly selected reference days – to investigate associations between walking and the use of other transport modes. Linear regression was carried out using kilometres walked as the dependent variable. We found walking to be positively associated with public transport use and negatively associated with the use of a private motorised vehicle. The proportion of variance in walking distances explained is around 3% (p<0.001). Interestingly, the use of public transport has a stronger (positive) effect on walking distance that the (negative) effect of car or motorbike use. These results supply evidence that policies aiming to transfer mobility from cars towards public transport are likely to bring about increases in walking and therefore public health gains. These results may also be used as inputs for further research, including Health Impact Assessments which may be carried out on future transportation policies

Spatial Dependence of Body Mass Index: Geneva, Switzerland

Urban health (UH) is an emerging field, which explores the effect of urban environment and urbanization on health. Evidence suggests that urban environment can either positively influence health behaviors or be a health stressor. One key approach in UH is the use of georeferenced data and geographic information system (GIS). Mapping disease prevalence and trends provide insight into disease mechanisms and etiologies. An important limitation of GIS is that data sets have likely been collected separately by different agencies, often over different time periods.The Canton of Geneva deviates from this limitation as it has been collecting geographic and health-related information continuously since 1998 through the Unit of Population Epidemiology (UEP) of the Geneva University Hospitals and its Bus Santé study. Combining health-related data from the Bus Santé study and GIS, using Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA), the investigators detected significant spatial dependance with respect to BMI. The results clearly indicate that BMI levels are not distributed at random in the Canton of Geneva. Moreover, performing preliminary exploratory analyses on blood pressure, investigators have identified cluster of individuals with higher blood pressure than the average, lifting up possible influences of environmental/urban factors (e.g., sidewalks, traffic, socioeconomic status)

Challenges and Prospects for Integrating the Assessment of Health Impacts in the Licensing Process of Large Capital Project in Brazil

Brazil was one of the first countries in Latin America to institutionalize a National Environmental Policy in 1981, including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process of economic activities with anticipated impacts on the environment. Today, EIA practice in Brazil comes with a number of limitations: it is constrained by its environmental advocacy role; application is strongly oriented towards large capital projects; and social responsibility considerations are only partially included. Consequently, EIA studies mainly address issues connected to localised and direct environmental impacts, largely ignoring any socio-economic and health impacts. This perspective paper highlights limitations of current EIA practice in Brazil with a focus on health considerations in impact assessment. While recognizing the positive impact to municipalities where large capital projects are being developed and operated, adverse impacts on health are a reality with measurable evidence in Brazil. Therefore, we argue that specificities on how to systematically assess and monitor potential health impacts cannot remain invisible in the Brazilian legislation, as currently seen in the reformulation of the licensing process in the country. The process of better integrating the assessment of health impacts in the licensing process of large capital project in Brazil must, however, not be based on the imposition of an external model but should be promoted by internal stakeholders from the environmental and health sector, incorporating the experiences gained in various case studies from all over the countr

Challenges and Prospects for Integrating the Assessment of Health Impacts in the Licensing Process of Large Capital Project in Brazil

Abstract Brazil was one of the first countries in Latin America to institutionalize a National Environmental Policy in 1981, including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process of economic activities with anticipated impacts on the environment. Today, EIA practice in Brazil comes with a number of limitations: it is constrained by its environmental advocacy role; application is strongly oriented towards large capital projects; and social responsibility considerations are only partially included. Consequently, EIA studies mainly address issues connected to localised and direct environmental impacts, largely ignoring any socio-economic and health impacts. This perspective paper highlights limitations of current EIA practice in Brazil with a focus on health considerations in impact assessment. While recognizing the positive impact to municipalities where large capital projects are being developed and operated, adverse impacts on health are a reality with measurable evidence in Brazil. Therefore, we argue that specificities on how to systematically assess and monitor potential health impacts cannot remain invisible in the Brazilian legislation, as currently seen in the reformulation of the licensing process in the country. The process of better integrating the assessment of health impacts in the licensing process of large capital project in Brazil must, however, not be based on the imposition of an external model but should be promoted by internal stakeholders from the environmental and health sector, incorporating the experiences gained in various case studies from all over the country

Int J Environ Res Public Health

This scoping study aims to explore the relationships between urban green spaces (UGSs) and the onset, remission and recovery of cancer. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews (protocol published in 2018). Eligibility criteria for papers were: (1) to be concerned with UGSs, (2) reporting effects of UGSs on cancer-related outcomes including direct or indirect measures, (3) reporting randomized controlled trials, prospective cohort studies, case studies, observational studies, non-comparative studies, (4) in English or French. The search covered primary studies in the published and unpublished (grey) literatures searching by hand and electronic databases (MEDLINE, Green File, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and ScienceDirect). Among 1703 records screened by two reviewers independently, 29 were included for qualitative synthesis. We classify the cancers concerned and the effects reported i.e., protective effect, risk or without association. The most investigated cancers are bladder, breast and lung cancer. Our study also identified contributing factors and their mediating effects between UGSs and cancer. Even though the strength of the evidence of the associations between UGSs and cancer is still weak due to the low number of studies and their design, results highlight the wide variety of possible mediating factors between the use of green spaces and cancer occurrence, remission and/or prevention. Knowledge gaps and future research perspectives should be oriented to qualitative research on protective factors with an attention to equity in UGS access and use