International Union of Architects WP Public Health Group

INFORMATION ABOUT THE UIA - PUBLIC HEALTH GROUP

What is the UIA Public Health Group ?

The UIA - PHG is one of the working bodies of the UIA , the Union International des Architects or International Union of Architects.
It was founded in1955 and currently has 46 members and 64 guests from 40 countries in the world.

Vision.
Within the context of the UIA philosophy it is the vision of the UIA-PHG that world public health can profit by the dedication of architects to provide efficient, safe and aesthetic health care buildings and an environment that can contribute to a more rapid healing of the patients as well as an improvement in staff operations and satisfaction.

Mission Statement.
To accomplish this vision the UIA-PHG should share its knowledge and experience not only within the group but also to other architects, engineers and consultants, health care managers and providers, health care organisations and governments.
It should also initiate research projects that contribute to better health care buildings and envi-ronments.

Plan.
In accordance with its the mission statement the UIA-PHG will each year organise a seminar in one of the member countries to share its information through presentations, poster sessions and discussions.
Other in health care building interested individuals and organisations will be invited to con-tribute or to be present at these seminars, especially from the UIA district where the seminar takes place.
To aid in the dissemination of information the seminar proceedings will be published in a book or at CD or both.

Regular contacts will be made with the UIA itself, other UIA working programmes and organisations like:

• IHF (International Hospital Federation)
• WHO (World Health Organisation)
• EU Commission of Healthcare
• EU-HPN (European- Health Property Network)
• GUHPA (Global University Health Programme for Architecture)

To add to communication every trimester a Newsletter will be distributed by the Director and a Website (www.uia-public-health-group.org) will provide the opportunity to get and give more information about the activities of the UIA PHG.

Themes.
The UIA PHG will focus its knowledge and expertise for the seminars on a limited amount of themes. The themes for a seminar will be selected from a quantity of themes that will be discussed and if necessary changed in the annual meeting.
Currently the themes are:

• Life cycle economy of health care buildings.
  • In which way can the design of health care buildings and his environment contribute to a efficient life cycle.
  • Aspects: - maintenance, energy saving, sustainability, materials
  •               - adaptability, flexibility
  •               - organisation, care path ways, care models, logistics
  
  
• Healing environment and evidence based design.
  • Can the built environment contribute to the healing process and the production of the staff.
  • Aspects: - interior design, way finding, colours, sounds
  •               - social spaces, gardens
  •               - privacy, one bed rooms, safety
  
  
• Information and Communication Technology
  • Aspects: - paperless hospitals
  •               - E - health
  
  
• Costing principles and practise
  • Aspects: - cost comparisons
  •               - public private partnership
  
  
• Design evaluation.
  • Aspects: - post occupancy evaluation
  •               - monitoring systems
  •               - design criteria

Organisation.
The organisation of the PHG consists of a Director, Executive members, Official members, Associate members, Emeritus members and Guests.
All members have to be registered as architects in their home country.
All members have a voting right in the annual meeting of the UIA PHG.

The Director is appointed by the UIA General Assembly for a period of three years. The Director must be nominated by the federation of architects (national organization) of his/her country and a curriculum vitae is required

The Executive members are appointed by the Director. They are the contact persons for the UIA regions and they support the Director in matters concerning the regions and more general ones.

The Official members are nominated by the federation of architects from their respective countries to represent their organisations in the UIA/PHG. Together with the nomination a curriculum vitae of the nominated person must be sent to the Director in advance of the an-nual meeting.

The associate members are nominated by an official member, together with a curriculum vitae, in advance of a annual meeting. To become an associate member one has to have attended more than one annual seminar and to have personally presented, at least one paper prior to nomination.

The emeritus members are retired (official or associate) members, who wish to continue to get UIA PHG information.

Guests are persons who have attended at least one of the annual seminars. They are kept on the mailing list as persons interested in the UIA PHG. They form the group of potential associate members. They can not attend annual meetings, unless specifically invited to do so by the Director.

Seminars.
The primary means of providing knowledge and information is the annual seminar. It is organised in one of the UIA member countries chosen as the venue at an annual meeting.
To give structure to the seminar a maximum of three themes will be selected. To ensure that the contents of the presentations conform with the themes and gives sufficient new information, a Scientific Committee will be established by the Director and the organiser of the seminar.
The general model for the seminars is as follows.

• One to two days visiting tours.
• Two days seminar, of which the last afternoon is intended for discussions in workshops per theme. This ends with a plenary discussion and conclusions.
• In the morning of the third day the annual meeting takes place for the members.

Newsletter
Every trimester the director will distribute an informal newsletter for the PHG. This newslet-ter will also be sent to other contact organisations and the UIA Secretary General. Members are encouraged to contribute items for the newsletter to the Director.

Website.
The website, www.uia-public-health-group.org, will partly be an open website, for everybody to use, and a part "for members only", with specific information. For the latter part a password is necessary; however the website is not yet complete.
The newsletter and the seminar proceedings will also be published on our website.
In the "members only" section the e-mail addresses of the members and guests will be available.
Postal addresses may only be obtained by request to the Director.

What is the UIA?

The UIA is a international non governmental organisation, founded in Lausanne in 1948 to unite architects from all nations throughout the world, regardless of nationality, race, relegion or architectural school of thought, within the federations of their national associations.
The UIA represents over a million of architects throughout the world through their national architectural associations that form the UIA Member Sections.
The UIA is composed of 87 Member Sections that are the professional organisations most representative of architects in 98 countries in the world. Each Section functions independently at national level and act as the liaison with the government, other member sections and the Union itself through a secretariat responsible for UIA affairs.
Member Sections contribute towards the economic and financial vitality of the Union through the payment of membership fees which constitute the essential recourses of the UIA.
Member Section are geographically divided into 5 regions:
Region I : Western Europe.
Region II : Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Section III : Americas.
Section IV : Asia and Australia.
Section V : Africa.

In order to carry out its missions the UIA is structured to allow it to maintain contacts with professional organisations and their representatives, and to coordinate their professional rela-tions at an international level, democratically and collegially.
This structure is made up of the:

• Assembly,
  Composed of delegations representing the Union Member Sections, of which it is the supreme legislative body. It convenes every three year to:
  • elect the members of the Bureau,
  • elect the members of the Council,
  • decide on the venue of the World Congresses of Architects,
  • ratify the admission of new Member Section,
  • define the Union triennial programme of activities,
  • vote on the UIA frame budget.
• Council,
  Is composed of four representatives from each of the five UIA Regions
• Bureau,
  Is composed of the President, the Past President, the Secretary General, the Treasurer and five Vice Presidents responsible for professional activities in their Region
• General Secretariat,
  Is placed under the responsibility of the Secretary General and is the Union executive body and the administrative centre.

To carry out the mission of the UIA there are Working Bodies, divided in Commissions and Work Program Groups. Each Commission and Work Program Group has a director and mem-bers from the member countries.

The UIA-Public Health Group is one of those Work Program Groups.

The headquarters of the UIA are situated in Paris.
More information on www.uia-architectes.org.

Utrecht, September 2005