Built Environment Interventions for Human and Planetary Health:Integrating Health in Climate Change Adaption and Mitigation

Objectives: Human-generated climate change is causing adverse health effects through multiple direct pathways (e.g. heatwaves, sea-level rise, storm frequency and intensity) and indirect pathways (e.g. food and water insecurity, social instability). Although the health system has a key role to play in addressing these health effects, so too do those professions tasked with the development of the built environment (urban and regional planners, urban designers, landscapers and architects), through improvements to buildings, streets, neighbourhoods, suburbs and cities. This article reports on the ways in which urban planning and design, and architectural interventions, can address the health effects of climate change; and the scope of climate change adaptation and mitigation approaches being implemented by the built environment professions. Type of program or service: Built environment adaptations and mitigations and their connections to the ways in which urban planning, urban design and architectural practices are addressing the health effects of climate change. Methods: Our reflections draw on the findings of a recent review of existing health and planning literature. First, we explore the ways in which ‘adaptation’ and ‘mitigation’ relate to the notion of human and planetary health. We then outline the broad scope of adaptation and mitigation interventions being envisioned, and in some instances actioned, by built environment professionals. Results: Analysis of the review’s findings reveals that adaptations developed by built environment professions predominantly focus on protecting human health and wellbeing from the effects of climate change. In contrast, built environment mitigations address climate change by embracing a deeper understanding of the co-benefits inherent in the interconnectedness of human health and wellbeing and the health of the ecosystem on which it depends. In the final section, we highlight the ethical transition that these approaches demand of built environment professions. Lessons learnt: Built environment interventions must move beyond simple ecological sustainability to encouraging ways of life that are healthy for both humans and the planet. There are key challenges facing this new approach

Childcare, mobility decisions and 'staggered' migration

Migration to Australia is increasingly ‘multi-step’ or ‘stag¬gered’ (Robertson 2013), often involving extended periods on tempo¬rary visas before permanent residency is achieved. This paper explores how the uncertainty around long-term migration outcomes that struc¬ture staggered migration impacts on how migrants’ make decisions about mobility that concern their children and their care. This paper utilises data from in-depth narrative interviews with Asian migrants in Australia who have experienced ‘staggered’ migration across multiple visa categories. It explores three key mobility decisions migrants make around children: bringing their children to Australia; mobility of fami¬lies and family members for child-care arrangements; and considering their children’s future mobility and citizenship. We argue that multiple factors come into play in these decisions about children, mobility and care. Specific policy constraints of temporary visas (such as lack of access to subsidised social services or family reunion) shape options, but migrants’ overall sense of social and economic security in the long-term is also significant

Friendship after migration: The experiences of skilled migrants to Australia

Friendship is an important social relation that offers emotional support in a range of ways and at different life stages. When individuals migrate they necessarily leave their existing friends behind, and need to find new ones. As the numbers of migrants to Australia increases, it is important to understand the emotional consequences of migration on their friendships. This study explores two key areas of friendship after migration. The first area is the process of acquainting and maintaining new friendships after arriving in Australia. The contexts that participants made friends are discussed, along with barriers to friendship such as language issues, or cultural misunderstandings. The second area of investigation is how participants managed to maintain old friendships with people outside Australia over time and geographic distance. The strategies that participants used to stay in touch with old friends, such as using new communication technologies and making home visits are outlined. This study draws on findings from semi-structured interviews and data gathered from a friendship map. The sample was comprised of skilled or professional migrants from different countries. The commonality of these participants was their experience of friendship rupture following migration. Drawing on a range of concepts, but with Goffman’s ideas of micro-sociology as a foundation, the findings of this research contribute to the scholarship of the sociology of friendship. In summary, it was found that migration impacts on friendships in various ways. Moving to a new country can have an emotional cost, because old friends are left behind and it takes time to find new ones who can fulfil these quality relationships, meaning the period immediately following migration can be a lonely one. Further, the migrant is in a position of relative social inequality in comparison to locals, who already have their friends around them. Participants often still felt emotionally close to old friends, even though their friendships were inactive. However, as time passed and life circumstances changed, it became harder to maintain these links over time and distance

Healthy Higher Density Living:A review of the literature

This literature review was undertaken as part of the HealthyHigher Density: Translating Evidence to Support PlanningStrategies for Healthy Higher Density Living research project,which seeks to advance knowledge of ways to plan higher densityprecinct developments to improve health by enabling industry toidentify how health and wellbeing can be integrated into higherdensity precinct development policies and practice