Philadelphia, USA, August 31, 2020

For the seventh time since the project began in 2017, researchers and members of the Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) team from nine countries met for three consecutive days to discuss overall progress and advance their research proposals and publications.

The event was held from August 25^th through the 27^th via the online digital platform Zoom. During the first two days, several presentations were made by the different data groups tied to mortality, survey papers, social environment, built environment and a final session in which a summary was presented of the project's achievements thus far and the objectives of the future.

In addition to above sessions, workshops were held so that researchers could present ongoing investigations and discuss with participants about future opportunities and changes. Among the topics discussed were the food environment and alcohol policies; adolescent, maternal, child and perinatal health; health and parks; climate change; road safety; residential segregation; gender and transportation.

Although the event had to go all online due to the pandemic, SALURBAL members said that the meeting served to bring everyone together to develop the project and work on existing opportunities for collaboration despite the global situation.

"It was a good space to plan future work and stimulate creative thinking along with members who have just joined," said one of the participants.

Since April 2017, the SALURBAL project has brought together researchers and urban health professionals from different countries and disciplines to examine the links between the environment and urban policies in Latin America and the stability of health and the environment. The SALURBAL team is made up of 16 Latin American institutions, partner universities in the United States and United Nations entities: The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Pan American Health Organization. The findings of the interdisciplinary and multinational project funded by the Wellcome Trust will reveal the ways in which city environments and policies affect health, as well as possible interactions between factors that may be beneficial or detrimental to health. Working with partners in international organizations and civil society, SALURBAL aims to generate and translate knowledge into actions that policy makers and other decision makers can take to build healthier, more equitable and more sustainable cities for the environment.