Talk given at the 12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress in Suva, Fiji, on 9 July 2013

1. A Systems Approach to Urban
Health and Wellbeing in the
Asia-Pacific Region
Katrina Proust1 & Nordin Hasan2
1 The Australian National University, Canberra
2 ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Kuala Lumpur

2. The ICSU Community
The International Council for Science
(ICSU) based in Paris
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
(ROAP) based in Kuala Lumpur
2

3. ICSU ROAP UHW Program
The ICSU ROAP Urban Health and
Wellbeing (UHW) Program
takes a system dynamics approach to
health and wellbeing in a changing urban
environment in the Asia-Pacific region
ICSU An Interdisciplinary Science Plan (2011)
3

4. ICSU ROAP Science Plan
4Science Plan launched in June 2011

5. Features of UHW Program
• Recognises that urban health issues are
complex, and require multi-disciplinary
approaches
• Promotes research into urban health and
wellbeing where researchers address multi-
sectoral issues and involve a wide range of
stakeholders
• Adopts a system dynamics approach
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6. Features of UHW Program
The Projects
• Individual pilot research projects focused on
the dynamics of selected urban health
problems in different regional settings
• An overview project that gathers insights from
individual projects, and provides a collaborative
learning environment across the UHW Program
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7. Features of UHW Program
The Systems Approach
• Adoption of Collaborative Conceptual Modelling
(CCM), developed by Newell & Proust
(2012), as the system dynamics approach
• Capacity-building in systems thinking and
analysis via CCM workshops, written materials
and on-line instruction (facilitated by Proust &
Newell)
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8. The Pilot Projects
8
Systems
Workshop
Kuala Lumpur
January 2013
Photo: B. Newell

9. Thailand
9
Agricultural
Vulnerability in the
Context of a Changing
Urban Environment.
A case study of the
Phuttamonthon
District, Bangkok
Map of Phuttamonthon (K. Nakhapakorn)

10. India
10
Towards a Systems Understanding of Urban
Transportation, Health and Well-being in Pune
Photos: Centre for Environment Education, Pune

11. Taiwan
11
Planning Green Transportation for Better
Urban Health under Climate Change
(Photo: Candice S.C. Lung)
Cross-sector team with
skills in public health
atmospheric
sciences, environmental
change, economics, envir
onmental engineering –
led by Candice Lung

12. China
12
Integrated Assessment of Urban Transportation
related to Health and Wellbeing.
A case study of Haicang District, Xiamen
Led by Dr Heqing Shen
with a team from the Key Lab of Urban Environment and
Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Xiamen; and the Xiamen Center for Disease Control
and Prevention

13. Indonesia
13
Healthy Settlement, Healthy People: toward
a dengue-free urban environment through
improved sanitation
Photos: U. F. Achmadi

14. The Philippines
14
Improving the nutrition status of under-5-year-
old children and breast-feeding mothers of
selected urban poor communities in Manila: a
systems approach
A mother shows winning meal in a cooking contest:
nutritious, cheap, using local ingredients. (Photo: I. Sia)

15. The CCM Approach
Introduction to
Collaborative Conceptual Modelling
Barry Newell a,b and Katrina Proust a,c
Working Paper
August 2012
a Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU
b Research School of Engineering, ANU
c National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU
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16. The CCM Approach
• CCM is a practical way for groups to develop robust
adaptive plans in the face of complexity and uncertainty.
• It has a strong base in dynamical systems theory and
cognitive science, but is designed to be accessible to a
wide range of people and flexible in application.
• It has been developed in collaboration with a wide
range of academic and community groups, including
managers from the public sector, industry and natural
resource arenas.
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17. CCM Principles
Studies in complexity science have demonstrated that
the behavior of a complex system emerges from the
interactions between its parts (sub-systems, sectors).
17
This observation
leads to system
principles for
urban health
studies . . .

18. CCM Principles
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It is not possible to improve the performance of an urban
health system by improving the performance of its sectors
taken separately.
Policy silos lead to policy failures

19. CCM Principles
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Cross-sector feedback loops are important drivers of
behaviour in any urban health system.

20. CCM Principles
Any action taken in an urban health system will have
multiple outcomes, some wanted and some unwanted.
The unwanted outcomes will usually be delayed, and
therefore not associated with the triggering action.
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21. CCM Principles
The behaviour of an urban health system unfolds over
time. Therefore historical studies are essential in any
attempt to understand the likely response of such a
system to policy interventions.
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A 19th century view of Penang

22. CCM Principles
The interactions in an urban health system cut across the
boundaries of traditional disciplines, institutions and sectors
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23. CCM Principles
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A systems approach requires effective dialogue
and collaboration between policy makers and
other stakeholders across sector boundaries

24. CCM
The CCM protocols and tools are designed to be:
• used in collaborative settings where policy makers and
other stakeholders work with the research team from the
beginning
• practical and easily assimilated
• flexible and adaptable to the needs of individual projects
For more information see:
Newell, B. & Proust, K. 2012. Introduction to
Collaborative Conceptual Modelling. ANU Working Paper.
ANU Open Access Research.
https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/9386
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25. Next Steps
• Teams to develop the required skills in system
dynamics – capacity-building via CCM
• Teams to develop projects that are genuinely
cross-sector and cross-disciplinary – CCM
• Training to be tailored to match aims and
capability of each team via distance education
– CCM booklets and on-line materials
• ROAP to establish the environment for a
community of projects – collaborative learning
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