How does the urban environment contribute towards the chances and challenges for health, and how are these chances and challenges (un)equally distributed across the population? These closely related questions fascinate me and are at the core of my research on the role of the urban environment on health and health inequalities.
I get energy from science that matters. I am therefore very proud to be program leader of the Centre for Effective Public Health In the larger Rotterdam area (CEPHIR). CEPHIR is the academic collaborative centre for Public Health in which we work together with the municipality and municipal health services of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Zeeland, and Zuid-Holland Zuid regions. Our aim is to achieve a vital population and reduce health disadvantages in these regions. We do this by research, teaching and capacity building, and knowledge exchange activities in order to connect research, practice and policy. Together we create societal impact.
See also our video on Healthy Cities on Vimeo.
Department of Public Health
P.O. Box 2040
3000 CA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Visitor address:
Dr.Molewaterplein 40
3015 GD Rotterdam
The Netherlands
The department is located at the 24th floor of the NA building.
Main projects
NWO Veni – DenCityHealth (read more): How to keep growing urban populations healthy?
More people are living in cities. To accommodate this change, people need to live closer together. How healthy is that? With the help of residents, researchers will use innovative methods to study how recent increases in population density in the Randstad region of the Netherlands have affected mental health. This project is funded through a Veni Innovational Research Incentives grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The DenCityHealth project runs from 2020 to 2023.
SURREAL (Systems approach of urban environments and health) (www.surreal-itn.eu) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) action funded by the European Commission. The aim of the action is to deliver a unique, creative and single training network for 15 Early Stage Researchers working on an improved understanding of the urban health system’s complexity, and on co-designing and applying adequate interventions in the system. The SURREAL project runs from 2021 to 2024.
ECOTIP / ECOCOM are two complementary projects on ecosyndemics funded bij NWO and ZonMw. Ecosyndemics are disease interactions in adverse environmental conditions that can create unhealthy synergistic effects. The aim of these projects is to unravel the mechanisms underlying the ecosyndemics and to learn at what level it is effective to intervene and how. We do this by using a mixed method approach where large data-analyses are complemented with participatory research with citizens and other stakeholders.
‘Sign in for a healthy life’ / PIE study (www.pie-studie.nl). The overall objective of this project is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of a preventative integrated e-health (PIE) approach. We will evaluate whether the approach is able to reach lower SEP people and improve their health determinants and overall health; what works, for whom, why and under what circumstances? This project is funded by ZonMW and the Noaber foundation. The PIE study runs from 2020 to 2024.
GLOBE study (www.globe-study.nl). The main aim of the Gezondheid en Levens Omstandigheden Bevolking Eindhoven en omstreken (GLOBE) study is to quantitatively assess mechanisms and factors explaining socio-economic inequalities in health in the Netherlands. The GLOBE study was initiated in 1991 and now runs for 30 years. The newest wave is in 2021.
Several so called ‘Klein-maar-Fijn’ studies from CEPHIR. Please see the CEPHIR website.
Former projects
Covid-19 & socioeconomic inequalities. I am involved in two CEPHIR projects on the covid-19 pandemic and socioeconomic inequalities. The first one, together with GGD Zuid-Holland Zuid, GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond and GGD Zeeland iinvestigates population differences in diagnosed covid-19 infections. This project is funded by ZonMW. The second project, funded by EUR Trustfund, explores the equity impact of covid-19-related policies. See also: www.cephir.nl
MINDMAP project (www.mindmap-cities.eu). The overall aim of the MINDMAP project is to identify the opportunities offered by the urban environment for the promotion of mental wellbeing and cognitive function of older individuals in Europe. To achieve this, the project will advance understanding by bringing together longitudinal studies across cities in Europe, the US and Canada to unravel the causal pathways and multi-level interactions between the urban environment and the individual determinants of mental wellbeing in older age. The project ran from 2016 to 2020.
Health Equity 2020 project. Within this project my main task wasmto develop a toolkit for drawing up evidence-based action plans to address socioeconomic health inequalities. The toolkit can be found here: https://survey.erasmusmc.nl/he2020/. The project ran from 2012 to 2015.
A extensive literature review on how we can reduce socioeconomic health inequalities for Fonds NutsOhra (for full review (in Dutch) see: http://www.fondsnutsohra.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Het-terugdringen-van-gezondheidsachterstanden-Erasmus-MC-Rapport-mei-2015.pdf.pagespeed.ce_.h65wJRI6Iv.pdf)
PhD thesis (2013): “Physical Activity : The interplay between individual and neighbourhood factors“. Understanding why some population groups are physically active and others are not is of key importance in developing strategies to improve population health. In My PhD thesis, I studied the associations of individual and neighbourhood factors with physical activity, with a particular focus on the interplay between these individual and neighbourhood factors.
Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences (NIHES)
- Core course: Principles of Public Health (course description)
- Thesis supervisor
- Assessment committee
Erasmus MC medical curriculum
- Community project (co-coordinator)
- Skills training – Social autopsy and neighbourhood analyses (Master) (teacher)
- Thesis supervisor
Netherlands School of Public & Occupational Health
- Supervisor research projects docters in training (Arts Maatschappij & Gezondheid)
- Course: Big Data gebruiken in Public Health onderzoek (course description)
Program leader of CEPHIR
CEPHIR (‘Centre for Effective Public Health In the larger Rotterdam area’) is the academic workplace Public Health in the regions Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Zeeland, and Zuid Holland Zuid. Within CEPHIR, the Public Health department from Erasmus MC works together with the municipalities and municipal health services from the larger Rotterdam area. Together they strive towards vital cities and reduced health inequalities by connecting research, policy and practice. www.cephir.nl
Publications list
Most relevant publications
Preferred reporting items in green space health research. Guiding principles for an interdisciplinary field
Environmental Research
Green spaces, subjective health and depressed affect in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-country comparison of four European cohorts
J Epidemiol Community Health
Land use mix and physical activity in middle-aged and older adults: a longitudinal study examining changes in land use mix in two Dutch cohorts
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Age-friendly cities: challenges for future research
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
The role of financial strain and self-control in explaining health behaviours: the GLOBE study
The European Journal of Public Health
Urban population density and mortality in a compact Dutch city: 23-year follow-up of the Dutch GLOBE study
Health & place
See our policy oriented infographics, factsheets and reports on the CEPHIR website.
PRIGSHARE (Preferred reporting items in green space health research. Guiding principles for an interdisciplinary field)
AID-PRIGSHARE (AID-PRIGSHARE: Automatization of indicator development in green space health research in QGIS. Accompanying script to the PRIGSHARE reporting guidelines)
A extensive literature review on how we can reduce socioeconomic health inequalities for Fonds NutsOhra (for full review (in Dutch) see: http://www.fondsnutsohra.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Het-terugdringen-van-gezondheidsachterstanden-Erasmus-MC-Rapport-mei-2015.pdf.pagespeed.ce_.h65wJRI6Iv.pdf)
See activities.
A selection of our work in CEPHIR:
- our contribution to the local Prevention Agreement of the city of Rotterdam: Gezond010: het akkoord.
- Our report on the Rotterdam food environment: Sven de Langen op Twitter: “In Rotterdam groeit het aantal fastfoodlocaties ??? in een kwart eeuw met maar liefst 50%! Eindelijk wordt er gewerkt aan wettelijke mogelijkheden om dit tegen te gaan. Maar wat had ik graag eerder ingegrepen! ? #preventie” / Twitter The full report: Rotterdam-voedselomgeving_Rapport_CEPHIR_WEB.pdf
Voices of Generation Delta "A living environment should encourage health, not hinder it"
Interview on urban environments and health for Voices of Generation Delta.
Amazing Erasmus "Een woonomgeving moet gezondheid stimuleren"
Dutch version of my interview for Voices of Generation Delta on urban environments and health.
Inspiratieboek 'De omgeving als leefstijlcoach' - essay on urban densification and health
The inspiration booklet is a publication of the Province of South Holland and offers a collection of ideas for better cooperation between spatial planning and the social sectore. It includes an essay by Mariëlle Beenackers on urban densification and health (in Dutch).
Interview Wiardi Beckman Stichting on healthy food choices
WBS-fellow Jacky Bax interviewed (among others) dr. Famke Mölenberg and Mariëlle Beenackers of CEPHIR and the Department of Public Health of Erasmus MC on the challenges surrounding healthy food choices (in Dutch).
AMuse magazine - interview on urban densification and health
AMuse is a placemaking magazine of area developer AM. This issue was about healthy neighbourhoods and includes a 4-page spread with an interview with Mariëlle Beenackers on urban densification and health (in Dutch).
Podcast 'Nederland na de crisis'- aflevering 'Gezonde mensen, groene leefomgeving'
Podcast on how the corona crisis has influenced our ideas on healthy environments. The theme of healthy green environments is discussed from an equity and sustainability perspective (in Dutch).
De stad op gezond gewicht: pak de omgeving aan
Opinion piece in Foodlog magazine on addressing the obesity epidemic (in Dutch).
Verdichting: kans of risico?
Interview with Biind magazine on the chances and risks of urban densification (in Dutch).
Stadmakerscongres - SMC Meetup#1 ademruimte
Discussion on chances and challenges in organizing urban space from health, tranquility and breathing space (in Dutch).
Health heroes geven vorm aan de nieuwe coronastad
Article on city design in times of corona, with the team of the Health Hero Challenge from AM (in Dutch).