Published on 6 March 2025
This year, Interact proposes to explore the link between the city and health – addressing the question ‘How can the urban environment promote physical and mental health for its population?’ In Lausanne, initiatives are in place to facilitate access to sport, movement and physical activity for everyone. But health is not just about exercise; it also includes eating good food, breathing clean air, sleeping in safety and living in optimal conditions.
Interact’s 2025 edition will support two collaborative research projects exploring these themes:
Lausanne has recently been identified as being the second city in Switzerland most affected by homelessness. In order to find solutions to this expanding urban problem, from a health equity perspective, major cities need to implement a mechanism to count and describe the characteristics of the people concerned. The objective is to identify how emergency accommodation structures need to be adapted to local needs.
Until today, there are no systematic local point-in-time counts within Switzerland. In response, this project will develop and implement an annual counting tool to identify and describe the characteristics of homeless people, who spend the night outdoors or in emergency accommodation over a given period. By estimating the number of homeless people and describing their characteristics and needs, public policies can be shaped.
Most public policies focus on the quality of outdoor air and its monitoring. Studies on indoor air pollutants are still rare. However, this topic represents a major public health issue in cities.
The purpose of this project is to invite a sample of citizens living in Lausanne (40 people) to participate in a science research. It combines a qualitative and quantitative approach with scientific mediation, in order to analyse:
– The quality of indoor air among a panel of citizens living in Lausanne;
– How it is perceived by these residents and what type of knowledge, values and experiences are associated with indoor air;
– What actions have been taken by individuals themselves to improve it?
Throughout the year, project leaders will be supported by representatives from the City and the University of Lausanne while they accomplish this early innovative research.
