NACDD, with funding support from the CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO), has added six new interdisciplinary teams to its walkability network in 2020. These teams were selected following a competitive nationwide application process to receive stipends that will support learning and development of team action plans comprised of policy, system, and environmental (PSE) approaches for improved walkability, community, and transportation design:
- Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Peoria Region, Illinois
- Kaysinger Basin Region, Missouri
- Greater Hickory, North Carolina
- Northeast Ohio
- Walla Walla Valley, Washington
Additionally, the following four CDC State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) representatives will be taking place in this year’s project activities alongside the six selected teams:
- California Department of Public Health (Emily Piltch)
- Pennsylvania Department of Health (Justin Lehman)
- Texas Department of State Health Services (Tiffany Real)
- Utah Department of Health (Brett McIff)
The 6th Annual Walkability Action Institute (WAI) was originally scheduled for implementation in Decatur, Georgia, for the dates of April 13 – 16, 2020, but was indefinitely postponed due to the unexpected implications of the COVID-19 coronavirus. NACDD and CDC are working to ensure that the 2020 Cohort will still receive expert faculty instruction from some of the nation’s most renowned leaders in public health, planning, advocacy, development, disability inclusion, and transportation and community design.
The 2020 Cohort of teams now marks 57 total teams from 31 states who will have participated with NACDD and CDC across the six-year project period to make lasting PSE changes promoting environmental design, municipal policy structure, and systems improvements to improve active transportation for all users. To date, more than 600 related changes have reached more than 40,000,000 people across the nation!
For more information on NACDD’s WAI efforts, please visit NACDD’s WAI project page or contact NACDD’s Project Lead, Karma Harris, at kedwards@chronicdisease.org.