Grant: Training Grant: Healthy Cities Research Training Platform

The Implementing Smart Cities Interventions to Build Healthy Cities (SMART) training platform addresses an urgent need to build capacity in implementation science to develop, evaluate and promote the uptake of interventions, with the aim of improving population health. A central driver of population health is access to healthy food, with food insecurity linked to a number of poor physical and mental health outcomes. In Canada, there are large differences in food insecurity across urban areas, accompanied by mounting evidence that the built environment and food systems can influence access to affordable and healthy food. Food security and resilient food systems are thus critical to building healthy cities. We propose a national implementation science training program whose hallmarks include (1) a thematic focus on the central place of food in healthy cities; (2) the use of 'big data' to create smart solutions for urban environments, and (3) bringing together the best knowledge, practices and tools from different fields of study to find solutions to complex problems. Focusing on food as a theme in the proposed training platform will equip trainees with transferable knowledge and skills to tackle many Healthy City challenges. They will learn, for example, that food security is a complex, multidimensional and multisectoral issue that requires collaboration and a systems-thinking approach. Specifically, the SMART training platform will deliver new curriculum, experiential learning, a portfolio of courses across 9 academic institutions, an annual conference, a summer institute and a virtual hub of resources. In addition to training a critical mass of future implementers to support the growth of Healthy Cities, SMART will strengthen implementation science practice and research in Canada, intensify research and generate innovation, create new research-practice partnerships and improve health outcomes related to food in Canada and globally.