In 1998 Woolwich Healthy Communities (WHC) completed the Woolwich Communitiy Report and presented it to Woolwich Township Council and to the residents of Woolwich Township. The Report is the result of over 3 years of work on the part of a dedicated group of volunteers who were members of the Sustainable Communities Group of WHC. We are grateful to everyone who provided us with advice, support, information, survey results and financial assistance. Without the support of literally hundreds of people from across the Township and the Region of Waterloo, we could not have completed this process of assessing how ‘healthy’ our community is.

The idea for the project began in 1995, when Woolwich Township gave approval to a set of 9 Woolwich Healthy Communities Guiding Principles. The principles were developed by Woolwich Healthy Communities to express our community's values in an organized, applicable way. The Sustainable Communities Group developed questions to assess how well we are doing as a community in the area of each principle. After about 1 1/2 years of volunteer effort at gathering local information, it became clear that much of what was needed was nowhere on record, so we decided to collect it ourselves. A community-wide survey of Woolwich Households became a major initiative and yielded much valuable information. A separate report detailing results of the survey has been prepared and is available at the public libraries or by telephoning Joy Finney (519 664-3794 x230) or Prof. Steve Brown (519 884-1970 x3895).

The Sustainable Communities Group is planning to update the Report regularly and and any assistance in gathering local information would be appreciated. Call us at (519) 664-3794 to find out when our next meeting is.

Woolwich Township officially joined the ranks of Healthy Communities across Canada and around the world in September of 1991. Healthy Communities started in 1986 through the United Nations’ World Health Organization. Within two years, there were 22 cities around the world officially participating. Today, Woolwich Township is one of over 1000 officially designated ‘Healthy Communities.’

Healthy Communities initiatives across Canada - and around the world - vary widely in focus, process and outcome. What they have in common are concerns with reducing economic and social inequities, improving environmental quality and encouraging public participation in creating healthy public policy. Municipalities which officially designate themselves as ‘Healthy Communities’ commit themselves to an approach based on:

• Official commitment to making the promotion of health an item of concern in all areas of municipal responsibility;
• Broadly-based citizen participation in setting priorities and choosing among alternatives for decision-making;
• Intersectoral involvement, crossing traditional boundaries dividing health, social development, land use, economic development and environmental concerns. In many municipalities, a cross-departmental planning group is established within the municipality as part of the Healthy Communities initiative;
• Healthy Public Policy - ensuring that all decisions and policies are influenced by a set of principles regarding what constitutes ‘healthy’ decision-making and by high quality information concerning local determinants of health.

Today, in Woolwich, we have 3 Working Groups and an umbrella Coordinating Group to guide our Healthy Communities activities. The newest group, the Township of Woolwich Environmental Enhancement Committee, was created through a partnership between Woolwich Healthy Communities and the Township of Woolwich. The primary objective of the Committee is to improve the quality of the envrionment in Woolwich Township. The Clean Waterways Group is involved with ensuring that local rivers and streams are healthy, through tree-planting projects carried out in cooperation with local farmers. The Woolwich Trails Group promotes trail development, bike path development and hiking throughout the Township and has produced a highly successful Guide to Woolwich Trails, which is available at bookstores, the Township Office and a variety of outlets around the Township. Anyone interested in getting involved in Woolwich Healthy Communities is welcome!

We hope you enjoy The Woolwich Community Report. We look forward to your comments. Thanks again to all those who have helped us to make it possible.

Woolwich Healthy Communities