What we do
Amsterdam has been a vibrant city for centuries. The Centre of Expertise Urban Vitality (CoE UV) collaborates with partners to improve the vitality and health of all residents in Amsterdam. This means focusing on physical, mental, and social health. It also involves strengthening motivation, resilience, and opportunities for all residents.
Our mission
Equal opportunities in the area of vitality and health are important for all of us. However, this is not a given for everyone. People in vulnerable positions are more likely to experience negative impacts on their health, social life, or finances. In the Netherlands, health disparities have increased in recent years, and we see this trend in Amsterdam as well. The number of healthy life years is strongly dependent on the neighbourhood you live in. People living outside the city ring tend to die, on average, 5 years earlier than those living within it. Furthermore, residents in Noord, Nieuw-West, and Zuidoost not only have a shorter life expectancy but also live an average of 10 years in worse health.
Basic principles
Focus on neighbourhoods with major health inequalities
The CoE Urban Vitality works with partners in the Amsterdam districts with the greatest health inequalities: Nieuw-West, Zuidoost and Noord. This fits with national and regional plans for a fairer distribution of health opportunities.
A broad view of the system
Health is strongly influenced by the environment: social and cultural life, money and work, and the physical living environment. To build a healthier society, we must look at the whole system. We need a broad approach and clear actions that improve chances for health and vitality in a structural way.
Collaboration between education, research, practice and policy
We can only achieve our goals with a broad network of businesses, residents, students, social partners, professionals and the municipality. We work closely with partners in practice, policy and politics, and we focus on what matters to people in Amsterdam. Together with our partners in the city, including the Municipality of Amsterdam and organisations and companies that work on vitality in the big city, we work intensively on relevant issues. Our partners benefit from the fresh ideas and knowledge of students and researchers, while the AUAS gains valuable insights from practice.
Our aim is that our project results have a clear impact on policy and decision-making. We experiment with new approaches to health and prevention. We share successful methods within our network so that we can bring about changes in health and vitality together.
Innovating for and with education
Many of our researchers also work as lecturers at the AUAS. They bring the latest research insights into their teaching. This helps students learn how to respond to a constantly changing society and to develop new solutions. In this way, we support the growth of new knowledge, skills and a questioning attitude in future professionals, such as district nurses, paramedics, dietitians, sports instructors and entrepreneurs. As a result, graduates can immediately contribute to a vibrant city with healthy residents of Amsterdam.
