National Training Program in Children's Environmental Health

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On August 20th,  20 emerging leaders in children’s environmental health research, policy and community advocacy will gather In Vancouver for one-week to combine their  knowledge, experience, priorities, stories and ideas on environmental disadvantages to children and how to address them.  Over the course of the week they will vision and craft several innovative projects that champion equity focused health strategies.

Knowledge Leaders in Children’s Environmental Health is a program inspired by a vision to create healthy, safe and nurturing environments for all Canadian children. Lead by the Centre for Environmental Health Equity (CEHE), in collaboration with the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE) and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), the goal of our national training program is to provoke a systemic shift toward equitable approaches in research, policy and practice to improve children's environmental health. 

Aided by seasoned experts from academic, community and policy settings, Knowledge Leaders will explore how community priorities inform research and policy decisions and what voices are missing, scrutinize existing knowledge mobilization models and practices, investigate cultural and institutional barriers to change, and envision ways to improve health equity through mutual understanding across sectoral divides. 

Together we will explore how equity-focused  knowledge translation can be brought to bear on  environmental health burdens that disproportionately affect children; particularly those living in disadvantaged circumstances. In short, participants and faciliators will help each other to examine blind spots and limitations in thier work, achieve new perspectives through the eyes of others and build new relationships in support of action to address the children's environmental health

For more information contact: tara.zupancic(at) cehe.ca

Why a training program? 

While research and knowledge of children's environmental health is growing,  there is little examination of how problems become prioritized, what social and historical processes have led to present-day health problems, and what strategies are best suited to resolve them.  

Although serious environmental health risks to socioeconomically disadvantaged children have been documented, very little research prioritizes health equity or the lived-experience of communities when gathering and analyzing information. 

Low-income communities may bring attention to their environmental health concerns but encounter institutional barriers to change. Similarly, academic and policy leaders often face barriers to collaborative approaches to address children’s environmental health inequities.  To learn more see: At the Margins and In Deep: the need to prioritize equity for children's environmental health