Question 1

What is the mission of the Health+Design Initiative?

Accepted Answer

The Health+Design Initiative (HDI) at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning has a mission to advance the integration of health into planning and design education, research, and professional practice. The initiative operates from the premise that the built environment is one of the most powerful determinants of community health, and that professionals who shape the built environment have both an opportunity and a responsibility to make health-promoting design and planning choices.

HDI's educational mission focuses on transforming how graduate students in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design learn to think about health. Through a multi-year studio series and research projects, students gain hands-on experience applying health frameworks to real communities, developing skills they carry into professional practice.

The initiative's research mission involves developing, testing, and refining practical tools and resources — like the Health Assessment Lens and the GuideBox — that help practitioners integrate health into their work. These tools are grounded in research but designed for use by professionals, not just public health specialists.

The partnership mission connects HDI with a broad network of organizations through the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative, extending the reach of health-informed planning and design far beyond the university and into communities throughout Colorado.

Question 2

How is HDI connected to CU Denver?

Accepted Answer

The Health+Design Initiative is a program of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver. CU Denver is part of the University of Colorado System and is located in the heart of Denver, giving it close connections to urban communities, professional practitioners, government agencies, and civic organizations throughout the Denver metropolitan area and the state.

The College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver offers graduate programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, urban design, and historic preservation. The college's faculty bring expertise from multiple disciplines that bear on the health+design relationship, including urban ecology, housing, transportation, community development, and sustainable design.

HDI is coordinated through the college's Dean's office, with involvement from department chairs, faculty, and the Colorado Center of Sustainable Urbanism (CCSU). This institutional positioning gives the initiative access to the full range of the college's disciplinary expertise while ensuring the coordination needed to manage multi-year, multi-disciplinary projects.

The Denver location is itself a resource for the initiative, providing a rich context of urban communities at various stages of change, a vibrant professional planning and design community, and a state government that is increasingly attentive to the connections between community design and public health outcomes.

Question 3

What is the Colorado Health Foundation's role in the initiative?

Accepted Answer

The Colorado Health Foundation was the primary funder that made the Health+Design Initiative possible. The Foundation provided a multi-year grant to CU Denver for the project "Creating Healthy Places through Transformational Education and Design," which funded the studio series, research teams, tool development, symposia, and community engagement activities that defined HDI's first phase of work.

The Colorado Health Foundation is one of Colorado's largest health-focused philanthropy organizations. Its support for HDI reflected a recognition that the built environment is a critical determinant of health outcomes in Colorado communities, and that transforming how professionals in design and planning think about health is a high-leverage investment in long-term community wellbeing.

The Foundation's grant was particularly significant in enabling the initiative to span multiple years. Building the kind of interdisciplinary educational and research infrastructure that HDI created takes time — time to develop curriculum, establish community relationships, produce and test tools, and build a professional network. Multi-year funding made this sustained effort possible.

The outcomes of the grant — including the Health Assessment Lens, the GuideBox, the Creating Healthy Places Guidebook, and the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative — represent a significant multiplier on the Foundation's investment, as these tools and the network they support continue to influence practice throughout Colorado and beyond.

Question 4

Who are the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative partners?

Accepted Answer

The Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative (CHPC) is a network of nearly two dozen statewide and regional organizations that formed out of the Communities in Transition symposium in April 2018. The network spans multiple sectors that shape Colorado communities, reflecting the understanding that creating healthy places requires collaboration across professional and organizational boundaries.

Professional association members include AIA Colorado (architects), APA Colorado Chapter (planners), ASCE Colorado Section (civil engineers), and ASLA Colorado (landscape architects). These associations represent thousands of professionals whose daily work shapes the built environment, and their involvement in CHPC extends the reach of health-in-design principles throughout the professional community.

Public health and sustainability organizations in the network include CALPHO (Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials), the Center for Health Work & Environment at CU Denver, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, and the Regional Institute for Health & Environmental Leadership. These partners provide the public health expertise and data that complement the design and planning perspective.

Other partners include The Colorado Health Foundation, Colorado Parks & Recreation Association, The Trust for Public Land Colorado, ULI Colorado, USGBC Colorado, and The Alliance Center. Together, these organizations provide the infrastructure for distributing the GuideBox to Healthy Places throughout Colorado and for collaborating on health-related planning and design initiatives across the state.

Question 5

How can I get involved with the Health+Design Initiative?

Accepted Answer

There are several ways to engage with the Health+Design Initiative. The most direct way is to use the tools and resources that HDI has developed — the Health Assessment Lens, the GuideBox, and the Creating Healthy Places Guidebook — in your own professional practice, educational programs, or community work. Using these resources and sharing feedback helps HDI understand how the tools are performing in the field and where improvements might be made.

Professionals interested in connecting with others working on health in design and planning can engage with the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative. CHPC member organizations host events, workshops, and networking opportunities related to healthy places work, and the GuideBox is available for borrowing through CHPC partner organizations throughout Colorado.

Educators can use HDI's tools and research in their own curricula. The GuideBox is particularly well-suited for classroom use, and the Creating Healthy Places Guidebook provides a comprehensive reference for courses on health, design, and planning. HDI welcomes connections with educators who are integrating health into design and planning education.

To get in touch with the Health+Design Initiative directly, please use the contact form on our Contact page. We welcome questions, feedback, and opportunities for collaboration from professionals, educators, students, and community members throughout Colorado and beyond.

About the Health+Design Initiative

What We Do

Education

Research

Tools & Resources

Our Tools

Health Assessment Lens

GuideBox to Healthy Places

Our Partners

Our Location

Frequently Asked Questions