Health Day at the next IAIA conference in Calgary, get engaged!

The health section is proud to announce the special Health Day “The science and art of international HIA practice” at the next IAIA conference in Calgary,

HIA has established itself as a widespread, credible and useful activity that is conducted in increasingly sophisticated ways. This field’s focus has moved beyond describing HIA and how it can be used, to more nuanced understandings of HIA methods and their impacts on decision-making and implementation.

HIA is forum for dialogue across disciplines and stakeholders, ensuring decisions that affect health outcomes are influenced at the conception phases, rather than treating the problems at a later date. However the nuanced challenges encountered while conducting HIA have not been widely disseminated by the HIA community. The development of the field is hampered by this lack of collective exchange and learning about the practice of HIA.

The current diversity of HIA practice will continue to enable a disparate range of HIA-related activities but more needs to be done to facilitate the dialogue across HIA practices as well as across Impact Assessments.

 In this health day, HIA practitioners will reflect on what we have learned through the application of HIA, and how HIA has to evolve to be better fit for the challenges ahead. The objective is not to reinvent HIA, but concerns translating the practice of practitioners from different backgrounds and geographical settings, through sharing knowledge, to better HIA practice. The International Association for Impact Assessment is the natural place for a thoughtful and productive discussion about the future development of HIA in a changing world.

Consistent with the Calgary theme the health section want to promote this discussion among HIA practitioners with the input of other impact assessment experts. The health day start with a theme forum with internationally renowned speakers, followed by two kaleidoscopic paper sessions and a final discussion workshop. But there are plenty of other health related events.

What next? check the preliminary program on line, follow us for updates, and get ready for the conference.

Hope to see you all in Calgary!