Built Environment
What is the built environment?
The "built environment" consists of the following elements: land use and development, buildings and facilities, transportation infrastructure, mobility (transit, bicycle, pedestrian), "green" building, energy efficiency, design standards, recycling, and food access/production; and related impacts on human health and the natural environment. The image of our built environment is strongly related to sustainability. Sustainability grows from principles of conservation and stewardship. A sustainable built environment minimizes the use of resources and protects natural ecosystems. How we design our built environment has direct and indirect impacts on things like water quality and quantity, urban forests and parks, air pollution, and climate change. 
What have we done so far? We have spent the first part of 2008 interviewing folks in Spokane that work on built environment issues in an attempt to begin to establish our CARE community partnership and to answer the following questions:
- What aspects of the built environment are being worked on? How does this relate to people's physical health?
- What holes or gaps exist?
- Are any efforts being duplicated?
- Who else should we be engaging?
- What niche do you see our CARE community partnership best filling?
- How and where could we most effectively channel our resources?
- How can our community partnership assist you and your organization?
Based on community input, we have generated a list of current players and ongoing projects (see newsletter). Initial community input suggests that current "built environment" activities in Spokane can be grouped into 3 broad issue categories:
1) green building and energy efficiency
2) active transportation
3) land use
These categories are somewhat comparable to the top four areas of concern that we found in our environmental health surveys conducted in 2007 (outdoor air, toxins, water, and built environment).
The Lands Council and the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) held a ½ day "Built Environment Forum" in June. The purpose of this forum was to gather everyone together, discuss (in small groups) each of the 3 issue categories and brainstorm targets with measurable indicators, and develop community-wide goals, solutions, and action plans. We also discussed health impact assessments (see below) and collaboration with the City's Sustainability Task Force on built environment issues.
Creating a community partnership: We are currently in the process of putting together this community partnership and devising goals, objectives, and tasks. Together, we hope to encourage implementation of smart growth best practices and help ensure that natural places are protected. We would like to deter urban sprawl, which has a negative effect on our forests, water, and wildlife. We hope to improve public transit and promote active transportation (e.g. walking and biking) in an effort to decrease automobile pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard air quality, and improve people's physical health. We would like to see more green building and energy efficient projects take place in Spokane. Green building promotes the recycling and re-use of existing products, which reduces the consumption of natural resources such as water and forests. Energy efficiency cuts costs, reduces waste, and promotes resource conservation.
Health Impact Assessments: Kat and Nicole attended a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) workshop sponsored by the San Francisco Department of Public Health in July. A health impact assessment is a combination of procedures, methods, tools, and processes by which policies, plans, programs, and projects are evaluated as to their potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population. An HIA should result in a better-informed decision with respect to health. In conjunction with the SRHD, we hope to conduct rapid HIAs to evaluate the health impacts of various policies and projects. These HIAs will hopefully guide our group decision-making and policy recommendations, as well as policy decisions being made by the City Council. Click here for more information about HIAs.
Built Environment Quarterly Newsletters:
The City of Spokane's Sustainability Program:
Our environmental health program is actively involved in the City of Spokane's Sustainability Program. We are part of the Outreach Partners team and participate on two of the Sustainability Task Force's working groups; built/unbuilt environment and transportation/mobility. Please visit the City's Sustainability Program website for more details. The City's site includes an action plan, news, events, documents, resources, tips, and more information about their Sustainability Program.
Local Built Environment Resources:
We are looking for more participants! If you have expertise in these areas, or an interest and willingness to contribute, please contact Kat Hall, Environmental Health Program Director at khall@landscouncil.org, 509-209-2403 or Nicole Powell, Environmental Health Program Assistant at npowell@landscouncil.org, 509-209-2404
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