The symposium brings together important collaborative work that the PHE Healthy Places, and Obesity and Healthy Weight teams are working on and undertaking in partnership with external colleagues to support efforts to tackle obesity through the English spatial planning system. It builds on PHE's 2020 guidance on using planning powers to promote healthy weight environments.

The Symposium highlights work on developing research evidence and evaluative practice to inform English national and local policy development and to support planning practice in local authorities and localities.

Provisional programme

Strategic introduction

Andy Netherton, PHE Interim National Lead for Healthy Places
Jamie Blackshaw, PHE National Lead for Diet, Obesity and Physical Activity

Influencing planning policy and systems

Dr Thomas Burgoine and Matt Keeble, CEDAR on planning policy, exclusion zones, online deliveries and takeaways
Professor Amelia Lake and Dr Claire O'Malley, Teesside on planning appeals and takeaways
Dr Helen Moore (Teesside) and Dr Mackenzie Fong (Newcastle) on impact of COVID planning regulations and takeaways in the North East

Shaping Policy and Practice

Professor Karen Lock, LSHTM on London Superzones evaluation
Emily Whyman and Nicola Calder, Food Active on the planning in the Pennine Lancashire Trailblazer
Rachel Toms, London Childhood Obesity Taskforce on its work on the built environment

Building system capability

Dr Helen Moore and Professor Amelia Lake, Teesside on planning for food environment e-learning

Guidance - Influencing Agendas

Dr Helen Pineo (UCL) and Julia Thrift (TCPA) on policy recommendations on the built environment and obesity

The symposium will be hosted on Microsoft Teams. Joining details will be sent a week in advance so please ensure emails from PHE and Eventbrite are not set to go straight to Junk Mail.

Virtual Symposium on Planning and Obesity