Title: Principal
Organization: Ramboll Environ
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Eddie Arslanian is a Principal with Ramboll Environment and Health, part of Ramboll’s international consulting firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark with a worldwide staff of 13,000 focusing on creating sustainable and long-term solutions to private and public sector clients. Eddie has been a practicing environmental professional for over 20 years, evaluating the impacts of chemicals to human health and the environment. Eddie’s practice has focused on advising clients in the real estate community on technical and management matters in assessing health and environmental risks. Eddie has evaluated human health impacts of chemicals emanating both from the subsurface environment, as well as from the built environment into indoor air.

As part of the firm’s Liveable Cities (LC) practice, Eddie collaborates with the firm’s international LC practitioners to provide solutions presented by global challenges caused by today’s megatrends such as urbanization, globalization, resource scarcity, climate change, demographic changes and environmental challenges. Eddie holds a BS in civil/environmental engineering from the University of California at Irvine, an MS in civil/environmental engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Why are you motivated to participate in the Health Leaders Network? How will your participation enhance your current and future work?

The intersection of health and the built environment is an area I have been focusing my professional and personal energy toward for quite some time. The policies that create health in the built environment align closely with those that create walkability, livability, resiliency, and sustainability. It seems that the biggest impact land use professionals can have in this realm, is to create healthy and livable communities by increasing density and services in urban environments, preventing sprawl, and allowing preservation of agricultural land.

Creating environments where activity is less of a concerted effort and more of a daily routine go far toward improving health outcomes for urban residents. Opportunities for everyday healthy activities, such as walking to the store, a neighbor’s home, or the park can all lead to healthier residents while increasing social capital. These strategies similarly provide freedom of mobility for all, including the young and the elderly who may not be able or willing to drive to daily destinations.

In addition, urban agriculture production and distribution can be a step towards building a greater connection between food and individual health. It may not be large scale production and it may not feed the entire population; but it does connect humans to natural systems and can be one of many strategies to move urban environments toward health and resiliency.

In this program, I hope to gain insight, knowledge, networks, and tools to turn these interests into tangible policies, solutions, and projects that will positively impact human and environmental health.