We increasingly need to plan for emergencies relating to climate change. Hopefully plans are already in place to deal with floods etc. But should we modify these in relation to climate change - e.g. to deal with more frequent or longer lasting flooding. Do we need to link up various plans to deal with multiple climate change emergencies - e.g. displaced people causing local increase in population in which an atypical ('tropical')epidemic develops.

Do current emergency plans have negative impacts on the environment, eg. creating huge carbon emissions, or anti-terrorist activity having negative effects on the public transport network. Could we even extend this to the economic emergency? Does the  government's response to protect the motor industry (supposedly a green policy) - the 'car scrappage scheme' actually increase emissions caused by production?

At the UK Public Health Association's 17th Annual Forum on 26 March 2009, the UKPHA Health and Sustainable Development Action Group hosted a workshop "Health and Wealth in the 21st Century - what role will public health play?"

A sustainable community?

How will we create communities with a focus on people - their contentment, wellbeing, resilience and fulfilment? Will it be possible within current economic systems and the impacts of climate change? What role should public health play?  Speakers William Bird (Natural England), Anna Coote (New Economics Foundation) and Jonathan Harris (DH East Mids) kicked off discussion.  As a society, can we shift our measures of success from those of economic growth and life expectancy to the more complex but important wellbeing?  And how do we measure this?

This connection has been set up to share insights from the workshop and to invite continuing debate on this important area of policy development - please visit the opinion and discussion pages, and give your views!