Welcome to D5P - Topic 1: Healthy Living
D5P will be online from the end of February 2012, to ask people living in Dublin how they think the City should develop over the next fifteen years. Every month we will introduce a different topic that is important for sustainable development, which over time, will help build up a picture of what citizens think is important for Dublin's future.
Introducing Sustainable Development and Dublin, by Dick Gleeson, City Planner
The impact of 7 billion people living on planet Earth is having a profound effect on its environment and climate. The Climate Justice movement indicates that 20% of the Earth's surface is now degraded, with serious consequences for the world’s poorest in trying to sustain a living. Such a huge and increasing global population, with its need for economic activity, sustenance and quality of life, is making unsustainable demands on the Earth’s natural resources. Reserves of timber, fish, oil, and clean water are being depleted.
Thinking about Healthy Living, by Dr. Donal O'Gorman, Dublin City University
In this blog entry I want to talk about Healthy Living. I use the term healthy living as I am talking about health in terms of a whole life view. This means talking about health in terms of prevention; the type of things that we can do on a daily basis and local government could possibly do, to assist us live healthier lives. This is different from the health care system, which we tend to engage with only when absolutley necessary.
On Your Bike - the upcoming deliberation on Cycling in Dublin, by Ciarán Cuffe, Lecturer in Planning at the DIT
17th April, 2012
Had a good meeting with Mayor Andrew Montague and the Dublin Fifth Province team this afternoon. We were brainstorming on the issue of cycling, and how to build on the success of the Dublin Bikes, the Cycle to Work Scheme and other initiatives that have led to a rise in cycling in recent years.
Here's my own suggestions:
Dublin Mayors Launch Dublin 5th Province
South Dublin County Mayor Caitriona Jones joined Dublin City Lord Mayor Andrew Montague at the Mansion House on May 3rd to co-launch Dublin 5th Province (D5P). Both Mayors spoke strongly in support of the initiative as it is unique in trying to bring experts and citizens together on an ongoing basis to deliberate on a sustainable future for Dublin City and Counties. Lord Mayor Montague hailed the importance of D5P as local government in Dublin is promising to deliver on the best ideas of participants.
Children and Healthy Cities by Jackie Bourke, Playtime
When it comes to children, health and the city are not often associated with one another. If anything, cities are thought of as unhealthy places where children in particular suffer the ill-effects of pollution, crime and traffic.
A personal note on cycling in Dublin City by Mark Bennett, Dublin City Council Green Business Officer
As a child, I realised that cycling gave me more independence than any other mode of transport. Before I could drive, it meant no waiting on a lift from parents, or on the side of the road for a bus. And once I could drive, cycling trumped that too, no maintenance costs (save for repairing punctures), no parking issues and no, or perhaps just less, peer pressure about makes and models. My Raleigh Grifter was my trusty, and latterly rusty, partner through school years and it was only retired when the likes of Sean Kelly introduced the allure of racing bicycles!
Culture, Creativity and Sustainable Development, by Andrew Moore, Senior Researcher, D5P
Culture and creativity are not discrete subjects, but touch on many aspects of our everyday lives. What is most interesting, however, is the manner in which culture and creativity relate to many important aspects of sustainable development. Before briefly examining this, first let me define what we mean in this context by culture and creativity.
There are many studies and debates about what the term culture means. Raymond Williams, a Welsh academic, said that there are four definitions of culture:
