“”Life-course priorities that focus only on social determinants while ignoring ecological frameworks and environmental determinants miss at least half the picture. We need to address the role of adolescents as a foundation not just for personal health, but also for environmental and planetary health.”

H Weiss

Original Letter: The Lancet – 18 Aug. 2012. Vol. 380, #9842, P 645.

The AMHC held its Inaugural Symposium in Dunedin, New Zealand last month, and the international multidisciplinary event was a great success. The event was held in front of a live studio audience and streamed to the Web to viewers all around the world.

The title of the Symposium was “The Road Not Taken – Mobility Health: New Directions in Teen Mobility Management”. In addition to our exceptional international speakers, (see video archives for all presentations), a highlight of the symposium was our final group of speakers – the Teen Panel, facilitated by Arthur Orsini of Urbanthinkers.

All the participants on the panel were non-drivers, aged 17-18, from two schools in Otago (one rural, one urban). They wowed the audience of academics, city council staff, and students with the eloquence with which they discussed their transport experiences and concerns as non-drivers getting around Dunedin. The AMHC will continue to work with this group of students throughout 2012, with the hopes that the students themselves will not only facilitate the Teen Panel for our AMHC 2013 Symposium, but play a large role in the planning of the entire event.

Working directly with teen non-drivers is an untapped resource, as they are extremely capable actors in their community. As one student stated after the Symposium (and others agreed): “It was good to see that people were listening to our discussion … that doesn’t happen very often.”