HIA Americas Workshop, September 24-26, 2008

We are excited to announce that the first ever HIA Americas Workshop will take place September 24-26, 2008. This workshop will focus on the evolution/progress of HIA in the Americas. It is intended as a forum for current HIA practitioners to discuss regional issues of relevance to the discipline.


On this page:

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is intended for current practitioners of Health Impact Assessment in North or South America, as a forum to discuss common issues.  However, we anticipate that a larger conference will be held in 2009 that will be appropriate for a broader group, such as people who are involved in EIA or SIA, community advocates, consultation experts and others interested in but not directly involved in HIA practice.

Dates

September 24-26, 2008

Location

Oakland, California

Overall Agenda

The workshop will kick off with a casual reception on Wednesday evening. This will be a good opportunity for socializing and networking with your colleagues, as well as enjoying your time in the SF Bay area!

Thursday and Friday will be spent in whole-group workshops and break-out sessions exploring where HIA in the Americas is "at" curently, and where we should be heading.

By the end of the workshop, we hope to have in place a collective game plan mapping a way forward for the next year, or possibly the next decade.

Schedule

Wednesday, Sept. 24

7:00 - 9:00 PM
Welcome reception at the offices of Human Impact Partners in downtown Oakland.

Thursday, Sept. 25: "Where are we at?"

9:00 - 9:30 AM
Welcome and introduction of all participants

9:30 - 10:30 AM
The current state of HIA in the Americas.

Invited short and focused presentations from participants on key issues relevant to HIA in the Americas at the present time.  Presentations will provide an engaging, experience-based, unique and personal perspective and could, for example, showcase a particular project, describe a new tool or method, describe roadblocks that have been encountered, or factors that contributed to success.  Each presentation will be limited to 10 minutes, followed by a short discussion.  For submitting an idea for a presentation, please see the section on Participant presentations below.

10:30 - 10:45 AM
Break

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Continued participant presentations.

12:00 - 1:30 PM
Lunch (provided)

1:30 - 3:00 PM
Practice Challenges
Facilitated roundtable discussions. There will be three (based on participant numbers) concurrent roundtables before the break, and three concurrent roundtables after the break, with participants choosing the roundtable of interest to them.  Each roundtable will be tasked with answering questions and providing some thoughts and recommendations on a specific topic relevant to practice challenges.  There will be a 45-minute roundtable discussion, followed by a short presentation of results back to the main group.  Sample topics are below, but may change based on participant interest.

Issues related to HIA values and principles

Can HIA fulfill its promise as a vehicle for multi-stakeholder engagement?
  • What is the extent of non-expert participation in the HIA process?
  • What are the available models for participation?
  • What are the best practice examples of participation in HIA or integrated HIA/EIA?
Can HIA fulfill its promise as a tool for health equity?
  • Is healthy policy synonymous with health equity policy?
  • What are the practice examples of HIA serving equity needs?
Can practitioners keep practice accountable and maintain transparency?
  • What decision control points create vulnerability to accountability?
  • What principles of accountability and transparency apply?
  • How to avoid conducting assessments biased towards funder or client  perspectives?
  • Where is the line between policy research and advocacy for HIA practitioners?

Issues related to regulatory integration

Where are the major opportunities for integrating HIA and other forms of IA?
  • What are the available models for integrating? (e.g., cooperating agency)
  • What does practice tell us about the value / costs of the integrated approach?
  • How can integrated HIA/EIA avoid limitations of EIA?
  • Are there other directions for institutionalizing HIA in the regulatory process?

Issues related to evidence

Does evidence exist to make meaningful forecasts of the health impacts of public policy?
  • What are some of the sources of available evidence?
  • What are some of the most important needs for research?
  • What standards apply for the evidence used in HIA?

3:00 - 3:15 PM
Break

3:15 - 5:00 PM
Practice Challenges continued.

 

Friday, Sept. 26: "Where are we going?"

9:00 - 10:15 AM
Identifying strategies to further the development and practice of HIA in the Americas.   
Given the current state of HIA in the Americas, what are the most important roles for HIA, where are the greatest opportunities for growth of the field and what are the limitations? If HIA is going to continue to grow who is going to do the work?  Facilitated whole-group discussion to identify possible options that the HIA profession might pursue, including but not limited to:

  • Public awareness and education
  • Professional standards in the field (practice guidance, quality and transparency of evidence and process)
  • Development of research methods and tools
  • Laws and regulations
  • Professional Associations
  • Practitioner network
  • Project-based partnerships
  • Conferences

10:15 - 10:30 AM
Break

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Developing the next steps.
Working groups will be formed based on participant interest in the strategies identified above. The groups will work to further explore the options and to develop concrete recommendations for presentation to the larger group following lunch.

12:00 - 1:30 PM
Lunch (provided)

1:30 - 2:45 PM
Reporting of results from the morning’s working groups regarding next steps.

2:45 - 3:00 PM
Break

3:00 - 4:00 PM
Identifying collective priorities and developing an action plan for HIA in the Americas.
Facilitated whole-group discussion

4:00 - 4:30 PM
Summation and concluding remarks.

 

Participant Presentations

If you are interested in presenting on the topic of the current state of HIA in the Americas on Thursday morning, please let us know you are interested (by e-mailing conference@habitatcorp.com) along with what topic you would plant to speak about.  Presentations should be limited to 10 minutes and should provide an engaging, experience-based, unique and personal perspective on HIA practice.

Biosketch

In order to formally introduce everyone and to create a network of HIA contacts across the Americas, we would like participants to send in a bio-sketch of themselves.  This bio-sketch should be one paragraph long and include your contact information at the bottom.  We will be distributing these sketches to participants of the workshop in a booklet format at the Wednesday night reception.  Please send to conference@habitatcorp.com by Friday, August 29th, 2008. 

 

Registration and Costs

Deadline: Monday, September 1st, 2008 (if possible!)
Costs: The cost for the workshop will be $130.00 per person.  This includes food and drinks at the reception on Wednesday evening, morning snacks and beverages on Thursday and Friday, and lunch on Thursday and Friday.
Payment: Checks can be made payable to: Tides Center/Human Impact Partners
Please send checks to:
Human Impact Partners
Attn: Celia Harris
274 14th Street
Oakland, CA USA 94612

Note: If you prefer to pay by credit card, please call Celia Harris at 510-740-0144.

Airport Information

If you are flying into San Francisco, there are two airport options; The Oakland International Airport and the San Francisco International Airport.  From the Oakland airport the workshop location is approximately 10 miles (~20-25 minutes depending on traffic).  From the San Francisco airport the workshop location is approximately 23 miles (~30-50 minutes, depending on traffic). There is direct point to point transit service from both airports to downtown Oakland via BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART.gov).  The San Francisco Airport has a BART station in the Airport.  Oakland has a shuttle bus to the BART line.

 

Accommodation Suggestions

Two hotels that are close to the workshop facilities are:

  • Courtyard by Marriott (988 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 625-8282)
  • Marriott City Center Hotel (1001 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 451-4000). 

There are many more hotels, B&Bs and other accommodation in the area.  While the events are being held in downtown Oakland, the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit system) provides easy transportation from San Francisco and Berkeley as well. 
Here are some suggestions for some interesting or unique accommodation.                 
B&Bs are listed at:

  • B&Bs in San Francisco: http://www.bbsf.com/.  San Francisco is replete with interesting neighborhoods, with microclimates that can vary on a block-by-block basis.  To be able to conveniently reach the workshop, make sure you stay near a BART station. 
  • B&Bs in Berkeley: http://www.bbonline.com/ca/berkeley.html.  Berkeley is located in the East Bay, just north of Oakland.  Great food options, and great views of the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz. 
  • The Berkeley Faculty Club has inexpensive rooms in a unique craftsman-style building: http://www.berkeleyfacultyclub.com/

 

Organizing Committee

Marla Orenstein and Murray Lee, Habitat Health Impact Consulting
Jonathan Heller, Human Impact Partners
Rajiv Bhatia and Lili Farhang, San Francisco Department of Public Health
Aaron Wernham, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council