Jennifer Bradley, JD, founding director of the Center for Urban Innovation at the Aspen Institute and coauthor of The Metropolitan Revolution, presented the 14^th Annual Carole Samuelson Lecture in Public Health Practice at UAB in January. Her talk, “Connecting Innovation and Inclusion for Birmingham’s Future,” made a compelling argument for the many ways inclusion contributes to healthier, more prosperous and vibrant cities.

Underscoring the link between people and place as a determinant for both mental and physical health, Bradley defined health as “far more than the absence of disease.” People, she said, need to have a broad range of capabilities, all of which are influenced by their social and physical environment:

• Live a normal length lifespan
• Have good health
• Maintain body integrity
• Use the senses, imagination, and think
• Have emotions and emotional attachment
• Form an idea of the good life
• Have meaningful and respectful social affiliations
• Express concern for other species
• Be able to play
• Have control over the material and political environment

Bradley then explored four practices that link strongly to innovation and “the optimal functioning of cities and human development”: 

1. a strong commitment to public health; 
2. a willingness to undo the damage wrought by old policies, laws, and practices that separated people based on class and race (e.g., red lining); 
3. actively developing new policies in support of inclusive economic development (she encouraged the audience to explore the Rockefeller Foundation’s five defining characteristics of an inclusive economy); and 
4. enlisting community members to act as co-creators of solutions. “You must listen to and understand the people you are trying to serve,” she said (a goal that is reflected in the CCTS mission and informs the activities of our community engagement initiative, One Great Community). 

Innovation is a team sport, and collaboration with varied individuals is essential—“The frontier of innovation is inclusion. Just as a lack of genetic variability causes problems, so too can homogeneity within groups stall innovation,” she noted. 

Noting that several cities in the U.S. are trying to develop more inclusive economies, but lack Birmingham’s unique social and economic history, she concluded by inviting Birmingham to once again demonstrate “civic courage” and leadership. “Birmingham has all the necessary ingredients—old and new sciences, humanities, technology, and empathy—to make the world a better place.”  

In case you missed it, you can watch the lecture here.