Healthy Canada by Design CLASP: Lessons learned from the first phase of an intersectoral, cross-provincial, built environment initiative.

Objectives: The Healthy Canada by Design (HCBD) CLASP (Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention) Initiative promotes the building of communities that support health by 1) facilitating the integration of health evidence into built environment decision-making; 2) developing new, cross-sector collaboration models and tools; and 3) fostering a national community of practice.

Participants: A coalition of public health professionals, researchers, professional planners and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff from across Canada developed, implemented and participated in the Initiative.

Settings: In the first phase, HCBD interventions took place for the most part in large urban and suburban settings in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Building the capacity of health authorities to influence land use and transportation planning: Lessons learned from the Healthy Canada by Design CLASP Project in British Columbia.

Objectives: The main objective of the Healthy Canada by Design CLASP Initiative in British Columbia (BC) was to develop, implement and evaluate a capacity-building project for health authorities. The desired outcomes of the project were as follows: 1) increased capacity of the participating health authorities to productively engage in land use and transportation planning processes; 2) new and sustained relationships or collaborations among the participating health authorities and among health authorities, local governments and other built environment stakeholders; and 3) indication of health authority influence and/or application of health evidence and tools in land use and transportation plans and policies.

Participants: This project was designed to enhance the capacity of three regional health authorities, namely Fraser Health, Island Health and Vancouver Coastal Health, and their staff.