Healthy Cities: a preliminary analysis

Healthy Cities is a World Health Organization (WHO) project seeking to enhance the health of Europeans through innovative health promotion practice based on multisectoral collaboration and community participation at a local level. Eight National Health Service (NHS) South Thames management trainees, in conjunction with the WHO, researched four cities involved in this WHO project: Dublin (Ireland), Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Horsens (Denmark), and Jerusalem (Israel). This chapter will consider the process of multisectoral working and community participation by evaluating achievements of the joint working groups in each country vis à vis key indicators, and analyse both indirect and direct outputs of the projects. The process of alliance-working will be evaluated on three levels in terms of: (1) national Health for All networks (UKHFA), (2) project steering committees, and (3) individual and issue groups. The primary research was based on semistructured interviews with key informants. The chapter will be structured according to the broad themes addressed and will include an identification of key success factors of effective multisectoral working and discussion of the usefulness of national networks and the mechanisms for evaluating outputs and outcomes.