In response to rising tensions and unmet needs in its downtown core, the City of Edmonton’s RECOVER Urban Wellbeing team and partners questioned assumptions and embarked on a journey of deep listening and co-creation of solutions with residents to cultivate connectedness and well-being. Check out this episode, featuring former RECOVER project manager Sue Holdsworth, to discover how RECOVER’s well-being framework can be used to transform how we design, deliver and evaluate programs and services to foster essential, but often overlooked, non-material aspects of health and well-being.     

(00:00) Introduction

(2:10) Interview with Sue Holdsworth

Episode Guest:

With two interdisciplinary degrees, Sue Holdsworth has worked for three local governments and an NGO as an urban planner, a social planner and a project manager. From 2020-2024, she was the project manager for RECOVER Urban Wellbeing at the City of Edmonton. It focused on people living on the margins and used social R&D to find and test new solutions. Sue has a love for learning and systems thinking, and she is drawn to complex, transformative projects.  

Learn more:

• City of Edmonton's Recover: Edmonton's Urban Wellness Plan 
• The Soulful City Report (includes Framework for a Culture of Wellbeing of page 146) (2020)
• Soloss

Episode Credits:

This episode was produced by Pemma Muzumdar, Rebecca Cheff and host Bernice Yanful (NCCDH). The Mind the Disruption project team is led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Promotion by Caralyn Vossen (NCCDH). Artwork by comet art + design. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. NCCDH is hosted by St. Francis Xavier University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the PHAC.