Can the arts heal?
The Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation Public Seminar series brings together members of the public, researchers and practitioners interested and engaged in urban health issues. The principal aim of the series is to provoke debate and constructive action, linking current best practice in urban development with emerging areas of health research.
Speakers:
- Antonia Attwood- Artistic Director, Creative Health Camden
- Alexandra Vincent - MBE, Managing Director, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
- Hollie Smith-Charles, - Director, Creative Health and Change, Arts Council England
- Dr Raluca Matei, - CPsychol, Research Associate in Health and Wellbeing, The King’s Foundation
Chair: Dr Fiona Whitehouse
Upcoming events
2025-26 Event dates:
- Wed 11th March 2026
- Wed 29th April 2026
- Wed 17th June 2026
All seminars are hosted between 5:30pm and 6:30pm at Kellogg College.
Sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with the centre's activities and seminars.
Past events
Our GCHU seminars are filmed and are available to download and watch. Below is an archive of links to the recordings of all events in the GCHU Public Seminar series.
Can designing with nature reduce health inequalities?
11th March 2026
Chair: Raluca Matei
Speakers: Dr. Matilda Van Den Bosch, Sophie Hockin, Marta Saniewska, Dr. William Bird
Can community-led planning make cities more adaptive and healthier?
21st January 2026
Chair: Juliet Carpenter
Speakers: Prof. Adam Briggs, Lucy Bush, Dr Rosalie Callway
Do neighbourhoods support us to thrive, or leave us lonely?
3rd December 2025
Chair: Juliet Carpenter
Speakers: Paul Cann, Dr Georgina Everett, Martyn Craddock, Dr Hannah Grove
Does Designing And Building With Nature Improve Our Health And Well-Being?
15th October 2025
Chair: David Howard
Speakers: Clare Bowman, David Powell, Jane Findlay, Cleo Valentine
Designing Urban Futures: Can Communities Prosper Under Net Zero?
18th June 2025
Chair: Dr Astrid Krisch
Speakers: Siobhann Mansel-Pleydell, Dr Amy Burnett, Imandeep Kaur, Emily Green
How can we solve the housing crisis without sacrificing the planet?
30th April 2025
Chair: Dr Astrid Krisch
Speakers: Dr Abi O'Connor, Darryl Chen, Tim Crabtree, Professor Rebecca Tunstall
Building our way out of the housing crisis: can regions work?
12th March 2025
Chair: David Howard
Speakers: Dr Graeme Larsen, Megi Zala, Geoff Anderson, Anna Strongman
Can polarisation be addressed through community dialogue?
22nd January 2025
Chair: Dr Astrid Krisch
Speakers: Rebecca Sutton, Dr Caesar Atuire, Ed Hodgson, Kate Pumphrey
Why should we care about healthier homes?
4th December 2024
Chair: Dr Lidia Katia C. Manzo
Speakers: Professor Susan J Smith, Professor Ken Gibb, Virginia Barbaro, Sammy-Jo Hagan
Cycling in cities: can active travel work for everyone?
16th October 2024
Chair: Dr Juliet Carpenter
Speakers: Professor Rachel Aldred, Kate Ball, Duncan Dollimore, Hassan Sabrie
What makes an age-friendly neighbourhood?
12th June 2024
Chair: Dr Hannah Grove
Speakers: Professor George Leeson, Charlotte Lewis, Sir Tony Baldry, Kelly-Marie Rodgers
Creating Thriving Communities: How do we build socially productive places?
24th April 2024
Chair: Emeritus Professor Timothy Dixon
Speakers: Dr Ani Raiden, Liane Hartley, Simon Grove-White, Nigel Carter
Roads to ruin? Public transport, inequality, and the way forward
6th March 2024
Chair: Dr Juliet Carpenter
Speakers: Sarah Leeming, Luke Marion, Anna Plyushteva, Pete Brunskill
COP28: Over and Out?
17th January 2024
Chair: Dr David Howard
Speakers: Professor Isabel Oliver, Dr Rosie Rowe, Paul Skinner, Cassie Sutherland
How can community wellbeing be supported in the neighbourhood?
29th November 2023
Chair: Dr Astrid Krisch
Speakers: Professor Jane South, Ansaf Azhar, Joanne Smithson, Simon Sadinsky
15-minute cities: Can they work for everyone?
11th October 2023
Chair: Dr Juliet Carpenter
Speakers: Professor Tim Jones, Julia Thrift, Cllr Louise Upton, Professor Richard Dunning
Re-imagining our urban future: how can city visions help us shape healthy and sustainable places?
14th June 2023
Chair: Emeritus Professor Timothy Dixon.
Speakers: Professor Michael Keith, Cllr Anna Railton, Dr Tolullah Oni, Mike Hood.
Systems change: How can cities accelerate progress towards net zero?
26th April 2023
Chair: Dr Katherine Maxwell.
Speakers: Dr Andy Kerr, Caroline Green, Dr Gireesh Shrimali, Maia Kutner
Why Adapt our Homes to Rising Temperatures?
7th March 2023
Chair: Dr Jesus Lizana.
Speakers: Dr Radhika Khosla, Dr André Paul Neto-Bradley, Dr Patrick Fahr, Charlie Luxton
Can citizens' juries help to address urban challenges?
18th January 2023
Chair: Dr Alison Chisholm.
Speakers: Dr Juliet Carpenter, Sven Evans, Professor Alan Renwick, Claire Taylor.
What Creates Healthy Cities?
12th October 2022
Speakers: Lord Best, Julia Thrift, Dr Stephanie Tierney, Councillor Susan Brown
Retrofitting and designing healthy built environments: How can buildings help our health?
15th June 2022
Speakers: Professor Rajat Gupta, Dr Anna Ulrikke Andersen, Cllr Michael O'Connor, Dr Sydney Ayers Mercer
Healthy by design: What role for the built environment in creating healthy cities?
27th April 2022
Chair: Lord Best
Speakers: Dr Helen Pineo, Iona O'Carroll, Dr Rosie Rowe
Artificial Intelligence in Urban Health: Is AI a solution for healthy cities?
9th March 2022
Speakers: Prof Gina Neff, Dr Alison Powell, Dr Esra Suel
The cycling paradox - how can cycling be encouraged as a healthy, sustainable, and safe mode of transport?
1st December 2021
Speakers: Dr Tim Jones, Dr Alison Hill, Steve Unwin, Louis Odgers, Professor Carl Heneghan
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: Can they work for everyone?
13th October 2021
Speakers: Dr Rachel Lee, Patrick Lingwood, Lucy Saunders, Dr Scott Urban
Delivering healthcare for rapid urbanisation
22nd January 2020
Speakers: Annette Pluddemann, Lucy Stevens, Hubert Lam, Mikaela Patrick, Carl Heneghan
Managing migration: cities, governance, integration.
4th December 2019
Speakers: Cecile Riallant, Colleen Thouez, David Howard, Thomas Lacroix
Next steps? Mixed use, walkable cities.
24th October 2019
Speakers: Karen Barrass, Daniel Elsea, Joanne Murraybrown, Ben Murphy, David Howard
Europe, Migration and Cities.
9th July 2019
Speakers: Sarah Spencer, Phoebe Clay, Michael Keith
Kellogg Urban Knowledge Exchange seminar: Healthy Cities
8th January 2019
Speakers: Carl Heneghan, Danny McDonnell, Sian Whyte, Chris Naylor
Kellogg Urban Knowledge Exchange: Rapid Urbanisation
27th June 2018
Speakers: Fiona Harvey, Peter Osborn, Ben Bolgar, Bob Allies, Victoria Hills
Kellogg Urban Knowledge Exchange: Urban Heritage
7th June 2018
Speakers: Geoffrey Tyack, Leidulf Mydland, Debbie Dance, Barbara Weiss, Oliver Cox
Kellogg Urban Knowledge Exchange seminar: Urban Public Art
24th April 2018
Speakers: Cathy Oakes, Leon Wainwright, Clare Melhuish, Sean Henry, Steven Parissien