Joint Call to Action to Promote Healthy Communities

The eight member organizations of the Joint Call to Action to Promote Healthy Communities (JCTA) Coalition published ten discussion guides to highlight successful cross-disciplinary collaborations for healthy, equitable communities.

The guides feature case studies from across the country, including California, Colorado, Kentucky, Indiana, and Washington, D.C., and examine the keys to their success as well as challenges they face. Included in each guide are conversational questions any design or planning professional can use to kick-start collaboration in their community.

In Washington, D.C., architects work with educators, public health professionals, and more to reimagine schools in the nation’s capital to put health first. How would you adapt these conversations for your community or to account for potential disruptions like COVID-19? Read more below.

A Lesson Plan for Health and Health Equity
(Washington, D.C.)		 A Neighborhood’s Plans for a Vibrant Transformation (Salinas, CA)
An Alley Becomes a Gateway to a Healthier Community
(Baltimore)		 Driving Results for
Community Safety and Health
(South Bend, IN)
Reimagining Parks, Health
and an Entire Small Town
(Winchester, KY)		 Turning the Wheels to Build Biking Infrastructure and Access (Northwest Arkansas)
Design Strategies
for Burning Health Issues
(Phoenix)		 A Stormwater Problem Becomes a Health Equity Opportunity
(Denver)
Convening New Partnerships, Breaking Out of Silos (Los Angeles) Broadening the Discussion About Health and the Built Environment (Denver)

The guides build on the core values outlined in the 2017 Joint Call to Action to Promote Healthy Communities which provided a framework for effective local, state, and regional collaboration across fields. Those values include:

  • creating and foster partnerships that advance health
  • building an understanding of health data and establishment of measurable health objectives for plans and projects
  • advancing policies, programs, and systems that promote community health, well-being and equity
  • communicating the importance of health

The JCTA Coalition includes the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Recreation and Park Association, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Urban Land Institute.