Vision

To help forge a future for every community that is healthy, sustainable, and flourishing.

Mission

To promote flourishing, sustainable, healthy communities across Alberta and Canada through multi-sectoral collaboration, cross-disciplinary engaged research and capacity building, and by contributing to evidence-informed policies and practices.

Guiding principles

  • Advocate for healthy communities' research platforms, programs and policy in Alberta, across Canada and internationally.
  • Share research outcomes with stakeholders, communities, government and the public to support practice and policy.
  • Partner with communities; government; non-governmental, nonprofit and grassroots organizations; private sector stakeholders, and researchers from other disciplines to build capacity and achieve shared goals.
  • Harness scientific and experiential expertise and access necessary tools and data to build and enhance supportive environments.
  • Utilize innovative and rigorous research techniques and theoretical foundations to guide research, policy, and practice.
  • Bridge organizations, people, places/communities, knowledge and research across multiple disciplines and sectors.
  • Mobilize research, community and/or practice-based expertise to develop action-focused policies, practices, and programs/services.
  • Address community concerns related to physical, mental, social, and environmental health, as well as the built environment and new technologies that impact health, wellbeing and quality of life.

Core values

  • Collaboration: We adopt a collaborative model that draws on a broad range of expertise and practice-based knowledge.
  • Integrity: We operate with full transparency following principles of equity, mutual respect, communication and trust among non-academic and community partners.
  • Sustainability: We promote longer-term, meaningful community change alongside environmental stewardship.
  • Research excellence: We strive to achieve excellence in all endeavours as a leader in conducting rigorous research that promotes healthy communities and associated policies and practices.
  • Health and quality of life: We recognize that the health of individuals and populations is shaped by the social determinants of health. With this in mind, our work takes place in a variety of sectors and settings such as communities, schools and workplaces.
  • Health equity and diversity: We aim to foster social inclusion and belonging and to achieve wellness for all members of communities by considering equity as well as vulnerable, marginalized and/or oppressed peoples.
  • Systems-based approaches: We recognize that community health is dynamic and rooted in multiple systems; therefore, we undertake a systems-based approach to addressing complex problems.