Building collaborative capacity for Local Authorities

Tackling complex problems head on but starting from where it matters the most

In recent years, we have seen an increasing acknowledgement of the link between climate change, health and urban planning. Research around this often highlights the importance of neighbourhood quality when improving urban health outcomes. However, less is known about the complex and interconnected nature between health impacts and urban health policy design interventions.

With new policies coming into play, Net Zero targets looming and a pressing need to combine climate change and health impacts, it is increasingly valuable to use systems thinking to strategically plan and deliver on good policymaking. For this reason, we wanted to design and shape systems workshops for public health and planning directorates within councils to understand how the two departments can improve their current ways of working.

Our methodology was to take a participatory action research approach - this meant a completely co-designed and collaborative process throughout. Validating our assumptions with Council stakeholders so that they are rooted in the real-world problems that they face. An additional role of our team within the shaping of the workshops was to also to build confidence within the Council to be able to deliver these workshops once our ‘pilot’ workshops had been delivered.

Methodology shared with the Councils we worked with.

Our collaborative systems workshops resulted in several tangible outputs:

1. Collaborative tools: A comprehensive visual representation of the vision and objectives of the local authority which included mapping out the interconnections between health impacts and urban planning interventions, highlighting key leverage points for policy design.

2. Cross-Departmental Action Plans: Detailed strategies for improving collaboration between public health and planning directorates, with specific timelines and responsible parties identified.

3. Policy Design ‘Toolkit’: A set of practical tools and frameworks for incorporating systems thinking into policy development, tailored to the specific needs of Local Authorities.

Direct outcomes as reported by post workshop evaluations and additional outcomes reported by participants that will need further evaluation.

By fostering a systems thinking approach and breaking down silos between public health and planning departments, these workshops have paved the way for more integrated, nuanced urban health policies.

Collaborative exercise on identifying hopes and fears for Council members from one of our workshops for a Council in the West Midlands

Local Authorities continue to grapple with the dual challenges of improving public health and meeting Net Zero targets, the skills and perspectives gained through these collaborative sessions will prove invaluable. Moving forward, we anticipate seeing more innovative, cross-cutting policies that address the complex interplay between neighbourhood quality, housing, health, and climate change.

We are honoured to have collaborated with UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and Quality of Life Foundation to deliver the workshops this year.

If you would like to collaborate with us to deliver more workshops for local authorities, please drop an email to hello@ouri-labs.com