Planning and designing healthy public outdoor spaces for young people in the 21st century

In recent years, new public health challenges have brought the issue of the decline of young people’s physical activities to the forefront. It has been highlighted that one of the biggest epidemics facing the World in the 21st century, is the growing obesity in children. The epidemic of childhood obesity has been attributed largely to a decline in total energy expenditure. This has often been associated with growing sedentary lifestyles amongst children and adolescents. Indeed, many aspects of social life have changed to encourage a more sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary pursuits that can lure children away from physical activities are becoming more available.

Consequently, every effort should be made to help young people to develop healthy lifestyles, including increasing physical activity. The virtues of outdoor playing have been widely endorsed. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that the design of the built environment can have an important impact on play and increase the level of physical activities.

In order to promote young people’s outdoor play, it is important to reflect on the opportunities offered by creative design of outdoor spaces to stimulate outdoor physical activities. It is also critical to identify the barriers and potential effective strategies for surmounting the problems that hinder outdoor play.

The aim of the conference is to determine what should be expected from public outdoor spaces in the 21st century to encourage outdoor play and promote regular physical activities. It seeks to explore the role of inclusive design of outdoor spaces as a vehicle to promote play and to overcome some barriers that inhibit outdoor physical activities.

This conference will provide the ideal forum where the relationship between the planning and design of outdoor public spaces, and the complex and interrelated pattern of factors contributing to obesity in children and adolescents are examined, shared, exchanged and debated.

The conference is organised to stimulate further research through debate and collaboration between the participants. It seeks to stimulate new thinking and to propose research agendas for the newly-emerging issues in this important field of study. Cutting-edge research issues will be presented by leading experts in this field.

It builds on work carried out by a multidisciplinary and inter-professional forum, funded by a joint ‘Designing for 21st Century’ initiative between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which sought to identify critical research issues and priority actions, through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and case studies.

This conference invites papers and poster presentations, based on innovative studies from diverse investigative authors and teams. The sessions will include oral presentations and posters selected through a competitive call for abstracts and presentations.

Areas of interest include, but are not restricted to:

Planning policy and outdoor play
Designing innovative outdoor environments
Healthy environments for young people
Safety and the use of outdoor environments by young people
Informal supervision and outdoor play
Theoretical and methodological issues in young people's play and physical activities
Transport, traffic and outdoor physical activities
Role of emerging technologies and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in safety and outdoor play

The conference will be held on 5 (evening), 6 and 7 July, 2006 at Bristol, UK.

	International Conference Planning and designing healthy public outdoor spaces for young people in the 21^st century
	5 - 7 July 2006, Bristol, UK	Selected papers Selected papers will be published in the refereed journals Children, Youth and Environments and/or Co-design (Taylor and Francis)
		Confirmed Sponsors
Home Background Participants Keynote speakers Programme Organising and scientific committee Submission dates Registration & Submission details Conference Venue Information about Bristol Access to papers and presentations (restricted site)	Conference overview In recent years, new public health challenges have brought the issue of the decline of young people’s physical activities to the forefront. It has been highlighted that one of the biggest epidemics facing the World in the 21st century, is the growing obesity in children. The epidemic of childhood obesity has been attributed largely to a decline in total energy expenditure. This has often been associated with growing sedentary lifestyles amongst children and adolescents. Indeed, many aspects of social life have changed to encourage a more sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary pursuits that can lure children away from physical activities are becoming more available. Consequently, every effort should be made to help young people to develop healthy lifestyles, including increasing physical activity. The virtues of outdoor playing have been widely endorsed. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that the design of the built environment can have an important impact on play and increase the level of physical activities. In order to promote young people’s outdoor play, it is important to reflect on the opportunities offered by creative design of outdoor spaces to stimulate outdoor physical activities. It is also critical to identify the barriers and potential effective strategies for surmounting the problems that hinder outdoor play. The aim of the conference is to determine what should be expected from public outdoor spaces in the 21st century to encourage outdoor play and promote regular physical activities. It seeks to explore the role of inclusive design of outdoor spaces as a vehicle to promote play and to overcome some barriers that inhibit outdoor physical activities. This conference will provide the ideal forum where the relationship between the planning and design of outdoor public spaces, and the complex and interrelated pattern of factors contributing to obesity in children and adolescents are examined, shared, exchanged and debated. The conference is organised to stimulate further research through debate and collaboration between the participants. It seeks to stimulate new thinking and to propose research agendas for the newly-emerging issues in this important field of study. Cutting-edge research issues will be presented by leading experts in this field. It builds on work carried out by a multidisciplinary and inter-professional forum, funded by a joint ‘Designing for 21st Century’ initiative between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which sought to identify critical research issues and priority actions, through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and case studies. This conference invites papers and poster presentations, based on innovative studies from diverse investigative authors and teams. The sessions will include oral presentations and posters selected through a competitive call for abstracts and presentations. Conference themes Areas of interest include, but are not restricted to: Planning policy and outdoor play Designing innovative outdoor environments Healthy environments for young people Safety and the use of outdoor environments by young people Informal supervision and outdoor play Theoretical and methodological issues in young people's play and physical activities Transport, traffic and outdoor physical activities Role of emerging technologies and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in safety and outdoor play The conference will be held on 5 (evening), 6 and 7 July, 2006 at Bristol, UK.	The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Designing for the 21st Century Cabe Space University of the West of the England, Bristol KOMPAN