From Evidence to Equitable Action: ISUH's Approach
ISUH operates at the intersection of research, practice, and policy — working across disciplines and sectors to address the structural determinants of urban health. Our approach is characterized by four interconnected modes of engagement that together form a continuous cycle: from generating and synthesizing evidence, to connecting those who hold it with those who can act on it, to designing and implementing solutions, to building institutional capacity for the work to continue and spread.
Convening — Building the Architecture of Collaboration
Urban health challenges do not respect disciplinary or sector boundaries. Addressing them requires sustained collaboration among actors who do not typically share platforms: academic researchers and community residents, city officials and civil society advocates, climate scientists and housing practitioners, public health departments and private sector investors.
ISUH's most distinctive contribution is the infrastructure it has built to enable this collaboration. The International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) is the world's only annual global forum that explicitly convenes all of these constituencies around a shared urban health agenda. Over 22 consecutive years, ICUH has brought together thousands of participants from dozens of countries, generating research partnerships, research translation, policy initiatives, and community-led projects that extend well beyond the conference itself.
Between annual conferences, ISUH sustains collaboration through its member network, working groups, and strategic partnerships with governments, academic institutions, NGOs, and international agencies.
Research — Generating and Translating Urban Health Evidence
ISUH conducts, commissions, and synthesizes research that is rigorous, interdisciplinary, and explicitly designed to inform action.
Our research portfolio includes:
Comprehensive urban health systems analysis, including foundational work contributing to WHO-level assessment frameworks
Applied research embedded in our on-the-ground projects — generating implementation evidence from real communities, not controlled laboratory conditions
Rapid evidence synthesis and policy briefs for city governments, international agencies, and foundations requiring decision-relevant information
Peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings that advance the scientific foundation of the field
ISUH is available as a contracted research partner to foundations, government agencies, and institutions seeking rigorous, community-grounded urban health evidence. We welcome inquiries.
Implementation — Designing and Managing Urban Health Projects
ISUH designs, manages, and evaluates on-the-ground urban health projects. Our project portfolio demonstrates that evidence-based, community-led interventions can be designed, funded, implemented, and assessed to produce measurable improvements in health conditions and outcomes.
Our implementation capabilities include:
Program and intervention design informed by evidence and community knowledge
Community engagement and participatory co-design processes
Multi-partner project management across complex international logistics
Rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) with transparent outcome reporting
Knowledge translation — converting project learnings into replicable tools and resources
ISUH has successfully executed projects supported by international foundations, government agencies, and multilateral bodies. We serve as an experienced implementation partner and welcome proposals, commissions, and co-design conversations from organizations seeking a credible lead in urban health programming.
Field Building — Advancing Urban Health as a Recognized Discipline
ISUH was established not only to conduct urban health work, but to build urban health as a coherent, funded, and institutionalized field — one capable of attracting investment, shaping policy, and preparing the next generation of professionals.
Our field-building activities include:
Introducing urban health frameworks to practitioners in architecture, urban planning, climate science, finance, and the private sector who are working on related challenges without the benefit of a shared conceptual foundation
Training emerging urban health professionals through membership programs, conference opportunities, and working group participation
Producing publicly available tools, frameworks, and resources that reduce the barrier to evidence-based urban health practice
Influencing urban health policy at city, national, and international levels through evidence synthesis, policy dialogue, and strategic partnership
