What is SMART?

The SMART Healthy Cities Training Platform will train the next generation of health, social sciences and humanities, engineering and natural science researchers, to find ways to make Canadian cities healthier, more livable, and more resilient using food and food systems to improve population health.

Turning knowledge into action

Our program is designed to provide trainees from 10 Canadian institutions with the knowledge and skills to tackle many of the challenges faced in urban environments, creating smart solutions to improve food access, mobility, and health in Canadian communities, including First Nations. Trainees will engage in implementation science; that is, all aspects of how to move knowledge into action from conception, execution, testing, scale up and evaluation. Experiential learning opportunities will enable trainees to put these skills to use.

Solving complex societal problems

The focus of our research efforts is on the central place of food in cities, the use of ‘big data’ to create smart solutions for urban environments, and bringing together the best knowledge, practices, and tools from different fields of study to solve complex societal problems.

Guelph,
Ontario

Guelph/Wellington will become Canada’s first technology-enabled Circular Food Economy, reimagining an inclusive food-secure ecosystem that increases access to affordable, nutritious food by 50%, where “waste” becomes a resource, 50 new circular businesses and collaborations are created, and circular econorevenues are increased by 50% by 2025.

Montréal,
Quebec

The Montreal community is shaping an efficient and dynamic neighbourhood life by innovating mobility and access to food. Through a co-creation and citizen participation process, the accessibility of services and the well-being of Montrealers are increasing significantly.

Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN)

OCN will utilize LED Smart Farming technology to develop sustainable fresh food production system that are operated locally to meet local health, economic and social needs.
OCN will also develop a smart food production and distribution system that will decrease the reliance on imported vegetables while decreasing chronic diseases.