The challenge

Cardiff and Vale’s Local Public Health team needed a clearer, more actionable understanding of the complex factors influencing obesity. Existing systems maps required refinement to align stakeholders, prioritise interventions, and drive long-term change.

Why it’s important

Obesity is a major public health challenge, shaped by a web of social, economic, and environmental factors. A fragmented approach risks ineffective interventions. A whole systems approach—mapping connections between policies, environments, and behaviours—was crucial for Cardiff and Vale to develop a coordinated and impactful strategy.

Our approach

Urban Foresight designed and facilitated a structured stakeholder engagement process to refine the region’s systems maps. We:

• Ran four in-person workshops on Healthy People, Environments, Settings, and Children & Families.
• Used systems thinking techniques to identify challenges, key interactions, and priority actions.
• Created updated causal loop diagrams in Kumu to highlight leverage points for change.
• Validated and refined insights through four online workshops, using Miro boards and dot voting.
• Engaged leadership in a final session to shape the revised strategic framework.

Results and impact

• Clearer system insights – Enhanced understanding of obesity’s root causes and interconnections.
• Focused interventions – Stakeholders aligned on high-impact actions.
• Strengthened collaboration – A more integrated, cross-sector approach.
• Strategic direction – A roadmap for systemic change, empowering leadership to drive progress.

How we can help you

Urban Foresight specialises in systems thinking and stakeholder engagement to solve complex challenges. If you need to create actionable strategies for public health or beyond, get in touch at hello@urbanforesight.com to see how we can support your vision.