NACDD Adds Six New Walkability Teams and Four SPAN States to Its National Walkability Network

January 2021

NACDD, with funding from the CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO), added six new interdisciplinary teams to its walkability network in 2020. These teams were selected following a competitive nationwide application process. The teams will receive stipends to support learning and the development of action plans for policy, systems, and environmental approaches for improved walkability, community, and transportation design. The teams are:

  1. Fort Smith, Ark.
  2. Peoria Region, Ill.
  3. Kaysinger Basin Region, Mo.
  4. Greater Hickory, N.C.
  5. Northeast Ohio
  6. Walla Walla Valley, Wash.

Additionally, the following four CDC State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) representatives will be taking place in the project activities alongside the six selected teams:

  1. California Department of Public Health (Emily Piltch)
  2. Pennsylvania Department of Health (Justin Lehman)
  3. Texas Department of State Health Services (Tiffany Real)
  4. Utah Department of Health (Brett McIff)

The 6th Annual Walkability Action Institute (WAI) originally was scheduled for implementation in Decatur, Ga., for April 13 -16, 2020, but was postponed and converted to a Walkability Virtual Academy (WVA) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
The WVA consists of 12 mandatory sessions and four optional sessions in six months. The six teams and state SPAN representatives have participated in eight sessions to date, which commenced in September 2020 and will continue through March 2021. The WVA provides expert faculty instruction from some of the nation’s most renowned leaders in public health, planning, development, transportation, and community design, cultural and ethnic equity, and disability inclusion.  
 
The 2020 Cohort now marks 57 total teams from 31 states who will have participated with NACDD and CDC across the six-year project period. These teams have made lasting PSE changes promoting environmental design, state/regional/municipal policy structure, and systems improvements to improve active transportation for all users. So far, more than 700 documented outcomes have reached more than 41 million people across the nation.
 
For more information on NACDD’s WAI efforts, visit NACDD’s WAI project page or contact NACDD’s Project Lead, Karma Harris, at kedwards_ic@chronicdisease.org.

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