[Community_garden] How 'Green' School Ground Design Contributes to Children's Physical Activity

[Moonshae]

On 28-Sep-07, at 11:10 AM, CUHI wrote:

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**apologies for cross-posting

CUHI Spotlight on Urban Health Seminar Series

Designed for Play:

How 'Green' School Ground Design Contributes to Children's Physical  
Activity

Anne Bell, (PhD)

Project Manager of Research, Learning Grounds, Evergreen

SUMMARY

The school ground represents an important built environment that  
provides children with regular opportunities for active play during  
the school day. What research methods are best suited to monitoring  
and measuring the relationship between school ground design and  
children's physical activity? This presentation reports on the  
findings of a methodological study, funded by CUHI, which explored a  
variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, including periodic  
scans of all children playing on the school ground, direct  
observations of individual children, accelerometry, mapping, guided  
walks and student interviews. Beyond purely methodological  
considerations, a selection of the data generated by the various  
methods will also be discussed, particularly as they relate to  
'green' design elements.

BIO

Dr. Anne Bell is a researcher, writer and environmental consultant  
living in Toronto, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. and Masters in  
Environmental Studies from York University, an M.A. from McGill  
University, and a B.A. and B.Ed. from the University of Toronto. She  
has conducted research for many government and non-government  
organizations and is currently the Project Manager of Research for  
the Learning Grounds Program at Evergreen.

University of Toronto, University College Building (15 King's College  
Circle)
Room UC177 – 1st Floor, West Wing
October 3, 2007
1:15- 2:45 PM

Free, all are welcome, please RSVP to cuhi.admin at utoronto.ca

Upcoming Seminars/ Workshops:

Thursday November 8, 2007

Izumi Sakamoto, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

CUHI 2007 CBR Award of Merit Honourable Mention

Project: “Coming Together: Homeless Women, Housing and Social Support”

Presentation Title: TBA

Location: TBA

Wednesday December 5, 2007

Laura Simich, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

CUHI 2007 CBR Award of Merit Honourable Mention

Presentation Title: “Sudanese Settlement and Sociocultural Aspects of  
Mental Health: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally”

Summary:  The community-based Study of Sudanese Settlement in Ontario  
was conducted for Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 2003-2004 to  
ascertain Sudanese settlement needs in seven Ontario cities. The  
study indicated that family adaptation, economic integration and  
social cohesion are the major settlement challenges for Sudanese, and  
that these have a deleterious impact on individual and community  
mental health. In this presentation, Dr. Simich looks back on success  
factors and outcomes of the initial study. She also presents recent  
findings from an in-depth follow-up study (2006-2007) conducted in  
Toronto, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; and in the rural community of  
Brooks, Alberta, to identify underlying issues and proposed solutions  
for community mental health. The presentation reflects on the  
relationship of the local to the global context and looks ahead to  
social support intervention research and planning in Toronto.

Bio: Laura Simich, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Culture,  
Community and Health Studies Program, Department of Psychiatry,  
University of Toronto, and a Scientist in Social Equity and Health at  
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto.  She is an  
anthropologist (Columbia University, New York) who came to Canada  
from the U.S. with her family in 1991. Dr. Simich specializes in  
qualitative, community-based, health promotion and policy-oriented  
research. Her recent studies have focused on sociocultural  
determinants of mental health among immigrants and refugees.  Her  
ongoing research interests are social support, resilience, family  
wellbeing and mental health among Sudanese, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees  
and non-status immigrants in Toronto. She helped to develop the  
popular self-help guide for mental health promotion in diverse  
communities, Alone in Canada: 21 Ways to Make it Better, a Guide for  
Single Newcomers to Canada, which is available in 18 languages.

Location: UC 177

Thursday January 17, 2008

Donald Cole and Kate Bassil, Department of Geography, University of  
Toronto

CUHI 2004 & 2006 Seed Grant Recipient

Project: “Use of 911 Ambulance Dispatch Data for the Syndromic  
Surveillance of Heat- related Illness in Toronto”

Presentation Title: TBA

Location: TBA

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Cyndy Baskin, School of Social Work, Ryerson University

CUHI 2006 Seed Grant Recipient

Presentation Title: “Which of the Following is NOT an Essential  
Service o Roads o Schools o Food Access? Exploring Food Security with  
Young Aboriginal Moms”

Summary: This seminar will present findings from a research project  
conducted with young Aboriginal mothers in Toronto using Aboriginal  
research methodologies. The project explored issues affecting food  
security for these mothers and their children with a focus on  
community involvement and policy connections.

Bio: Dr. Cyndy Baskin, of the Mi'kmaq Nation, is an Associate  
Professor in the School of Social Work and the Centre for Studies in  
Food Security at Ryerson University. She worked at several Aboriginal  
social services agencies within Toronto before coming to Ryerson in  
2001. Cyndy's teaching, research and writing focus on Aboriginal  
world views, research methodologies, decolonization, and the  
strength, resilience and resistance of Indigenous peoples globally.

Location: TBA

Wednesday March 19, 2008

June Larkin, Institute for Women’s Studies and Gender Studies & Susan  
Flynn, Planned Parenthood

CUHI 2007 CBR Award of Merit Winners

Project: Toronto Teen Survey

Presentation Title: “The Toronto Teen Survey: Improving Sexual Health  
Services for Diverse Toronto Youth”

Location: TBA

Thursday April 17, 2008

Gala Arh, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

CUHI 2006 Seed Grant Recipient

Project: “Mapping the Attributes of the Church & Wellesley  
Neighbourhoods which Influence Tobacco Use among Lesbian, Bi-Sexual,  
Transgender People”

Presentation Title: TBA

Location: TBA



Alexis Kane Speer

Centre Coordinator

Centre for Urban Health Initiatives (CUHI)

University College, Room 259

University of Toronto

15 King's College Circle

Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7

416-978-7223

FAX: 416-946-0669