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Jason Corburn, PhD
UC Berkeley
Professor and Director of the Institute of Urban & Regional Development and the Center for Global Healthy Cities
Speaker Information

Jason Corburn is a Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and School of Public Health. He directs the Institute of Urban and Regional Development and the Center for Global Healthy Cities at UC Berkeley. He also co-directs the joint Master of City Planning (MCP) and Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program at UC Berkeley. His research, practice, and teaching focus on urban health in the US and globally. He leads action-research projects that explore the links between environmental health and social justice in cities, notions of expertise in science-based policy-making, and the role of local knowledge in promoting greater urban health equity. Professor Corburn’s research and practice addresses racial/ethnic disparities in health, citizen-science, community health & healing, urban gun violence, climate justice, health-in-all policies, and informal settlements and health equity.

Headshot of Jason Corburn in suit against gray background

Cities for Life: Global Environmental, Social and Health Justice

On a planet of cities, global sustainability demands new, inclusive strategies for linking human health, ecologic systems and social justice. Far too many communities in cities of the global north and south are suffering the burdens of economic, environmental and social inequalities. In this talk, Professor Jason Corburn, Director of the Institute of Urban and Regional Development and the Center for Global Healthy Cities at UC Berkeley, will highlight innovative, equity-focused practices from Richmond, California, Medellín, Colombia, and Nairobi, Kenya. Professor Corburn will discuss his own action-research that uses ‘citizen science’ to reshape environmental health evidence and addresses pressing urban policy challenges around the world. Professor Corburn will highlight that re-orienting urban science and governance is necessary to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to ensure growing cities around the world promote well-being for all.