Along the lines of sustainability, I see a co-relation with an issue that has intrigued me in my career in "Environmental Health", which is: How does one measure the "environmental health" of a community? While we all want clean air, pure water, safe food, wholesome recreation, and decent childcare, school and work conditions, it has been a challenge to stick a number on any of those parameters, and that seems to tie in with measuring cleaner efficient energy use, saving water, pollution prevention, smart growth, and the litany of sustainability topics I've seen repeated in this forum. Does anyone have any clear "environmental indicators" to give a picture of the healthiness of our regional neighborhoods? The local level of environmental health services in Western Colorado concentrates on food service, septic systems, institutional sanitation, small water systems, public swimming areas, and in some jurisdictions, air quality, among other smaller programs. At that, the expertise and capabilities of small health departments is stretched, yet the discussions occurring among this group show potential future directions for local practitioners to act on global issues.
Thomas Orr, EHS-III
Mesa County Health Department
P.O. Box 20000 510 29-1/2 Road
Grand Junction, CO 81502-5033
Phone: 970.248.6967
Cell Phone 970.260.3537
Fax: 970.248.6923
e-mail: [email protected]
Along the Lines of Sustainability
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Paul
Thank you for your reply. Very sorry I hadn't gotten back to thank you earlier. In the meantime, I have been working on promoting Environmental Public Health Indicators for Colorado. The State has recently obtained grant funding for developing these, so I have and will use what I learn from your input and other sources to particiipate in the Colorado adventure.
If you are still with the Cittaslow project or aware of it, could you give me a 3-year view of what worked, didn't work, etc.?
Thank you again.
T
Thomas Orr
Mesa County Health Department
United States
...
Hi Thomas,
Here in the Katoomba, Blue Mountains in NSW, Australia, we have just been endorsed as a Cittaslow, second of the inaugural endorsements in the Southern Hemisphere and Australia, which is a framework within which communities self asses and then seek to enhance their environment, level of cohesion and health in general. The movement is spreading and there are now around 100 plus such cittaslows across the world and I can recommend looking into the principles and focus areas of this framework. The assessment covers 6 or so main areas and within these there are numerous points of analysis, e.g. water and air quality, so the entire community is evaluated then the plans and action steps stemming from this are outlined that uplift and make more healthy the environment in the fuller sense. Local, fresh and organic produce, technology in appropriate and effective applications, interaction with and support from local government of community projects including culture, physical and mental health, all areas of attention and empowerment. You may like to check http://www.answers.com/topic/cittaslow. Another brand new Australian Cittaslow is Goolwa in South Australia and together we are in the process of forming the Australasian Cittaslow network to promote and facilitate its adoption. A Google search on cittaslow is worthwhile too.
Kind regards,
Paul Payten
GEENI - Global Ecology & Educational Networking Interface
Associate of EcoSTEPS Pty Ltd
- Sustainability Partner -
www.ecosteps.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)2 4787 5850
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