What is Healthy Christchurch?

Healthy Christchurch is a network of about 200 very diverse organisations with three things in common :

  • They provide services to people living in Christchurch.
  • They signed the Healthy Christchurch Charter in which they agree to ‘work together to promote, protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Christchurch’.
  • In late 2005 they agreed to focus on two priorities in the short-medium term – to improve the physical activity and nutrition of people living in Christchurch, and to reduce the health inequalities in Christchurch by working to improve the health status of those who are worse off.

Healthy Christchurch aims to:

  • To forge a common vision for a healthy city.
  • To foster healthy relationships between diverse agencies and sectors in Christchurch, from 'grassroots' groups to government agencies.
  • To enable flexible, collaborative and prompt responses to emergent health issues.
  • To ensure all policy incorporates a health perspective.

Healthy Christchurch began as an intersectoral initiative sponsored by the Christchurch City Council, Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu, Crown Public Health (now Community and Public Health a division of Canterbury District Health Board), He Oranga Pounamu, Pegasus Health, Christchurch School of Medicine (now University of Otago, Christchurch) and the Ministry of Health. The current sponsoring organisations include Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, Ministry of Health, Pegasus Health, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu and University of Otago, Christchurch.

Each sponsoring organisation has identified a Champion. This person gives the initiative mana and visibility. By now about 200 organisations have signed the Healthy Christchurch Charter.

The initiative recognises that all sectors and groups have a role to play in creating a healthy city, whether their specific focus is recreation, employment, youth, transport or any other aspect of city life.

The Charter was drafted by a wide range of groups following a thorough engagement phase in 2001.