FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Paige Rohe, prohe@chronicdisease.org, 404-924-8295

ATLANTA (Feb. 19, 2019) —  The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s (NCCDPHP) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO), announces the 10 interdisciplinary regional teams that will receive travel assistance to attend the 2019 Step It Up!: Action Institute to Increase Walking and Walkability, also known as the Walkability Action Institute (WAI) in Decatur, Ga., April 22-25. 

The purpose of the WAI is to prepare interdisciplinary teams from metropolitan planning organization (MPO) regions (or other similar regional entities) to pursue policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) supports for walking and walkability. This action institute will provide teams with the most up-to-date academic and applied learning methods and will reinforce and support implementation of significant national public health policy statements promoting walking and walkability, such as the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition and Step It Up! – the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities. NACDD convenes a renowned course faculty to provide participant teams with an optimal learning experience.

Applicant teams were asked to demonstrate the required team make-up (public health, planning, transportation, and elected officials) as well as past, current, and future ability to influence walkable community design through high-level PSE activities. The following 10 regional teams will be attending and receiving travel assistance for the 2019 WAI:

• Broward County, Florida (Broward MPO)
• Clackamas County, Oregon (Clackamas County Public Health Department)
• Daytona, Florida (River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization)
• Fort Collins, Colorado (North Front Range MPO)
• Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, Vermont (Northwest Regional Planning Commission)
• Lane County, Oregon (Central Lane MPO/Lane Council of Governments)
• Marshall County, Indiana (Michiana Area Council of Governments)
• Maui, Hawaii (Maui MPO)
• Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission)
• Spokane, Washington (Spokane Regional Transportation Council)

These 10 teams join an NACDD cadre of 41 additional WAI alumni teams who are working to increase physical activity through macro PSE efforts focusing on active living and active transportation. Each team will participate in related pre- and post-course activities, including the development of a team action plan that will serve to augment their walkability efforts. 

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The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
Promoting Health. Preventing Disease.

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and its more than 7,000 Members seek to strengthen state-based leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control in states and nationally. Established in 1988, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACDD is the only membership association of its kind to serve and represent every chronic disease division in all states and U.S. territories. For more information about NACDD, visit chronicdisease.org. To learn more about NACDD’s WAI project and efforts, please visit chronicdisease.org/page/WAI.