gms | German Medical Science

Background: Given the increasing density of cities, designing healthy cities is becoming more important than ever [1]. The Ottawa Charter of 1986 emphasizes the relevance of reaching people by creating health-promoting environments [2].

To monitor the social determinants of health and derive local health promotion measures, detailed information on health at the municipal and urban level is needed in combination with geographical, socio-demographic and environmental data. In addition, these data play an important role in resource allocation and decision-making [3].

Below, one of six sessions at the transdisciplinary forum [4] at the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum is presented. The session “Monitoring” aimed to present existing national and international knowledge and, in a subsequent plenary discussion, to identify knowledge gaps and innovative approaches for action. One focus for the derivation of approaches for action was the transferability to the Ruhr area. The three contributions are named below, followed by the results of the plenary discussion.

Contributions: The contributions of the session consisted of the following presentations:

• Dr.in Rehana Shrestha (Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, Germany), Narayan Thapa (Youth Innovation Lab, Nepal), Reshma Shrestha (Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Nepal): Supporting data driven decision of municipality – case of mapping rooftop farming using geospatial technology.
• Monika Mensing (Landeszentrum Gesundheit NRW (LZG.NRW), NRW Centre for Health), Dr.in Odile C. L. Mekel (Landeszentrum Gesundheit NRW (LZG.NRW), NRW Centre for Health), Michael Sprünken (Stadt Bochum, City Administration of Bochum): The place standard tool: German adaptation and piloting in the Ruhr area city of Bochum.
• Julita Skodra (University of Bremen, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research): Integrated Urban Health Monitoring: Supporting implementation of Health in All Policies in Bremen for healthy and sustainable urban development.

Plenary discussion results: A plenary discussion between the presenters and the audience followed the presentations.

The discussion began with a reflection on what is already known, based on the presentations. The audience pointed out that the data repeatedly emphasize the link between living conditions and health. Overall, the results show: Plenty of data is already available. Participants emphasized that political commitment and the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach play an important role and that close cooperation with practitioners is needed. The audience underlines the importance of transdisciplinary approaches and participatory methods in this context. However, despite the available tools and approaches, implementing participation is still difficult.

Subsequently, knowledge gaps in monitoring were discussed. In this context, the audience identified that there is still a gap in how best to combine, use and implement the available data and evidence. In addition, it is often not clear how to involve disadvantaged population groups and how to identify their needs sustainably.

In the end, innovative approaches to action in the context of monitoring were discussed. It was noted that intersectoral cooperation, transdisciplinary approaches, participatory approaches and tools, as well as the involvement of citizen researchers can be understood as innovative approaches. The audience emphasized that it is valuable to collect and combine available data and knowledge and to disseminate and share it at local and regional levels. Participants recommended increasing the accessibility of open-access monitoring tools and providing training. The use of geospatial technology can be considered beneficial. However, the issue of data protection needs to be taken into account. In addition, the audience mentioned e.g. the socio-medical data network “Digital Health Factory Ruhr” https://digital-health-factory.ruhr/ as an innovative approach.

The presentations as well as the constructive and inspiring discussion in the end show that there is already a lot of knowledge about monitoring in the context of urban health, both internationally and in the Ruhr Area. This existing knowledge already contains innovative approaches to action. To avoid duplicate structures, it must be used first and then extended. Existing and newly collected data should be available to all stakeholders at local and regional levels. Overall, the relevance of intersectoral, transdisciplinary and participatory approaches is emphasized.