| Summary: |
2 of 7 films on the theme of 'Taking forward the Thriving Places Approach - Learning from Elsewhere'. Eamon O'Kane presents Derry Healthy Cities and the civic approach to alcohol harm reduction. He provides background starting in 2005 when Derry Healthy Cities was established, as the city, country was coming out of conflict (The Troubles), case studies, the negative media image which portrayed Derry/Londonderry as a dangerous, violent place in relation to alcohol misuse when the statistics showed it to be the second safest place in Northern Ireland. He discuses other factors, international perception of a peoples who like to drink, positives and negatives, culturally a long time love affair, in terms of economy a positive factor, changing trends of how people drink. He talks about the issues faced when setting up Derry Healthy Cities, how they needed to find a way to get people take ownership of alcohol and surrounding issues, the leadership issues, hidden issues coming out of the conflict, the initial meetings with stakeholders. The key actions needed, specifically to raise awareness of the need to create change, the first action plan 'The 4 stages of going out', the initiatives implemented to keep communities engaged and manage carnival events. The results of this continued conversation with all levels in the community began to show in the drop in crime statistics because people, young people were engaged and involved in improving their community. The media also portrayed a more positive image of Derry. Moving forward to six years after they started, he talks about the 'One City, One Plan, One Voice' strategy, a multi-agency plan with five key pillars and eleven themes, the notion of Derry as 'a key leader in community mobilisation' (Prof. Harold Holden) - getting people to work together, realising the reality that alcohol is everyone's responsibility, educating partners on what they need to do, handing control of the design to the community. It's about building social capital and letting people feel ownership in a process where currently they feel disempowered. |
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