Municipality of Municipality of

Municipal Masterplan 2015-2030

Vision: Quality of life and growth sustainable societies - a good start and coping throughout the lifespan - generous and robust life environments PURPOSE OF THE PLAN The Municipal Masterplan 2015-2030 is a common plan for Levanger and Verdal. The Municipal masterplan includes long- term goals and strategies for the municipal community as a whole and the municipality as an organisation, which is intended to be harmonised with the ongoing social development - locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The goals and strategies in the Municipal masterplan provide the guidelines for all sectors in the development of the municipality, including the priorities in the economic plan and budget. The plan has been drawn up on the basis of the long term challenges in the Strategy Plan and the target profile for 2030, a holistic social analysis for the municipalities and through the subsidiary municipal planning processes for the activity of the municipalities. VISION AND DIRECTION The vision of the municipalities is QUALITY OF LIFE AND GROWTH. Growth here means both the growth of the citizen and growth for the community.

The vision is intended to provide guiding principles for our endeavour to achieve good quality of life and good health for the inhabitants of Verdal and Levanger. This is the central goal in itself, but it is also the most important resource of the municipality for further growth and the increase in development and a fundamental investment for a sustainable society. The population's health and quality of life are developed in the communities where people play, learn, work, spend leisure time and live their lives. Good local and municipal development improves the residents' living conditions and makes it easier for people to make health-promoting choices. It also enhances the citizens' ability and willingness to care about and take care of each other and the community they are a part of. We shall therefore focus our work on community development that promotes public health and reduces social inequalities in health and conditions of life. The focus on the residents will give everyone the opportunity to participate in the community regardless of age, gender, orientation, social and cultural background and disability. Public health is affected by all social sectors, as shown in Figure 1. That is why public health strategy is woven like a red thread through the entire local government plan, in which quality of life, health and control are key concepts.

We have chosen the definition of health1 provided by Peter F. Hjort as the basis for our goals and strategies for the community: "Good health is what a person has when he has the ability and the capacity to cope with and adapt to life's inevitable difficulties and day-to-day requirements."

What affects health and quality of life?

The factors affecting quality of life and health may be presented in a causal chain that stretches from the general community situation to the characteristics of the individuals. This is illustrated in Figure 12.

Although social networks and living habits have a more immediate impact on health and quality of life, they are also greatly affected by underlying factors in which all the social sectors play an important role.

We must therefore consider the Figure 1 Public health is affected by all sectors consequences for health, quality of life and a fair distribution of the conditions of life in everything we do. For the community the vision focuses on factors such as growth in population, increased development capacity, innovation and value creation. This requires a focus on measures that promote the attractiveness of the region, for example, through infrastructure, residential areas, industrial development and an employment trend that matches and promotes population growth. The region's reputation will also have an impact on the ability to develop the municipalities in the direction of increased quality of life and growth for all. Ensuring good communities in a robust and sustainable region requires the participation of, and a joint commitment by, all the players in the community.

The municipal plan is intended to enhance the ability and capacity of our municipalities to cope with and adapt to the inevitable difficulties of social development and the day-to-day requirements. We will achieve this through targeted efforts and constant development within the four main areas in which a municipality operates: As the arena of local politics, a force for social development, a service provider and an authority.

Figure 1 Four main areas of municipal initiative MISSION STATEMENT The municipalities' exercise of these roles must be transparent and build on a trust relationship with the stakeholders we interact with. Our activity and interaction with others must be recognisably based on our values. Values define a basic platform for us, and in the processes within the organisations the focus is on three value concepts:

Loyalty, honesty and respect

We, and our actions, must be recognised and predictable from our basic values in interaction both externally and internally. GOALS We are working to achieve the following objectives:

• Our municipalities are good communities to live in for a whole lifetime, and everyone feel as a valued part of the community

• All children must be given the best possible start in life

• All the inhabitants feel secure, they have control of their everyday life and they have added several active years of life with good health and well-being

• Our municipalities are a force for development in a sustainable and robust part of Central STRATEGIES In order to achieve the objectives, the municipalities must A) ensure sustainable societies, B) give priority to a good start and coping throughout the lifespan and C) create generous and robust living environments. The blue text boxes expand on some of the strategies. A) Ensuring sustainable societies • Prioritising prevention and early intervention • Prioritising measures that benefit large sections of the population • Ensuring that municipal efforts are prioritised according to the citizens' needs • Arranging for an innovative and profitable working and business world and increased food production • Taking still clearer responsibility for environmental and climate challenges • Mobilising local community resources through transparency, the involvement of citizens and collaboration and alliances with knowledge institutions, business, the cultural and the voluntary sector and public players • Ensuring holistic solutions, coordinated work processes and future-oriented and knowledge-based services • Reconciling policy and service provision through binding, coherent and economically sustainable planning • Contribute to a sustainable development in the region with emphasis on infrastructure, business and cooperation with other municipalities Sustainable development is based on three pillars: The natural environment, the economy and social conditions Sustainability involves a development that meets the needs of today's inhabitants without reducing the possibilities of future generations to meet their requirements3. Achieving this requires close interaction between citizens, social players and the municipalities, through dialogue, negotiation and a clearer management of social development.

We have to prioritise universal services and settings! It is well documented that measures aimed at large groups of the population, including low-risk groups, can be more efficient overall, compared with measures aimed at small high-risk groups. The explanation is that a small effect on the many produces greater benefits than a large effect on the few. At the same time the universal approach must be arranged in such a way that those with the greatest need receive the most support. 4.5 B) Prioritising a good start and coping throughout the lifespan • Prioritising the child's early conditions of life and opportunities to cope with life • Facilitating inclusion, safety and participation in social communities • Prioritising measures that reduce social inequalities in health and conditions of life • Facilitating and fostering a healthy lifestyle • Emphasising the residents' own resources and experiences in the provision of services • Emphasising the family and network perspective as underpinning perspectives in our work • Achieving a close and equal partnership with the citizens • Improving the learning outcomes in schools • Working to ensure a good and inclusive workplace • Giving all citizens the opportunity for cultural experiences A good childhood lasts a lifetime! The basis for good quality of life, health and coping is created before birth and develops throughout life. A good childhood lasts a lifetime and becomes part of the social heritage. A good and sustainable society that is characterised by quality of life and growth requires that we make it a priority to give all children the best possible start in life. This does not mean that all initiatives must be addressed directly to children, but that everything we do must contribute to a positive development in children, with particular emphasis on the youngest children6.7.

Coping with life ensures quality of life and growth Coping is all about people feeling that they are able to take control of their own life and situation, including how people deal with problems, stress and the challenges of everyday life. Coping throughout life depends on people's belief that they can achieve something, their knowledge and skills, and what other resources they have at their disposal in order to cope with everyday demands. It is therefore important that we strengthen the conditions that make it possible for people to take control of their lives. A robust population with good capacity for coping with life also reduces the need for public assistance4.5. Photo Verdalsbilder.no by Ole Morten Larsen

C) Creating generous and robust living environments • Supporting good (livable) local environments • Developing active and more compact centres with concentration of buildings in the various parts of the municipalities • Stimulating beautiful and vibrant centers and secure areas for safe green spaces, meeting places and accessible infrastructure • Making it easier and more attractive to walk and bicycle • Facilitating play, activity, culture and outdoor activities and leisure facilities for all regardless of age and functional level • Facilitating a differentiated residential offering that responds to citizens' needs • Encouraging residents to take better care of each other and their surroundings • Facilitating continuity and resilience in the voluntary sector and clarifying the distribution of responsibilities and interaction between non-governmental, public and private players • Building on development and innovation as natural factors in the organisation and society • Strengthening the identity and attractiveness of the region through a focus on our achievements and character A generous and robust life-environment is about developing a community in which all citizens have their basic needs covered for housing, work, education, health, active and meaningful leisure time, sequrity, sense of belonging and participation. Securing this sort of living environment requires the municipalities, residents and various social players in the community to discover the common social challenges and find common solutions to deal with them.

Sivil security and universal design are general statutory requirements which must be ensured in all municipal activity.

Knowledge-based practice is all about taking decisions in a given context on the following basis: 1) research-based knowledge, 2) experience-based knowledge and 3) knowledge and experience gleaned from the inhabitants. The objective is to strengthen the decision-taking basis and thus also the quality both of the service provision, the exercise of authority and the political decision-taking processes8. The municipalities' achievements are a strong, varied and growing business sector, attractive scenery with close proximity to and mountains, the cultural landscape and an active cultural life. Examples include an active agriculture sector, the Verdal industrial park, , the lime deposits in Tromsdalen, the Falstad centre, HINT, HUNT, , and timber house town of Levanger. INDICATORS AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW The target indicators shown below are assumed for the assessment of the results in the annual report. The assessment is performed in the light of the municipal objectives and is intended to give an indication of whether the development is in line with them. Where possible, the assessment must be based on a breakdown by geography, age, gender and social status. Our aim is to improve the situation for all, and to reduce inequality.

• Life Expectancy (the Institute of Population Health) • Self-reported health and quality of life (HUNT4 and UngData) • Years of life with good health (HUNT4) • Access to trusted friends/networks who can help in case of trouble (HUNT4 and UngData) • Participation in further education (County data) • Long-term unemployment (Nav) • Disability (Nav) • Households with persistent poverty/long-term recipients of social benefits (SSB/Nav) • Participation in cultural activities/volunteering (HUNT4 and UngData) • Physical activity (bicycling and self-reported physical activity HUNT4/UngData) • Infrastructure for walking and bicycling (new meters) • Traffic (number of passengers using public transport and car traffic counts) • Civil Index (The Civil Survey) • Democracy Index (The Civil Survey) • The Municipal Barometer (Municipal Report) • Source Separation ( Renovation) • The Industrial Index (Central Industrial Organisation) • Commercial Institutions (Innovation Norway) • Net and gross operating profit as a percentage of operating revenues (Municipal accounts) • Provision reserve as a percentage of operating income (Municipal accounts) References

1. Hjort P.F., "The concept of health, the ideal of health and health policy goals", in the Lorentzen P.E. (ed). Health policy and health administration, : Tanum Norli, 1982, pp. 11-31. 2. Dahlgren G., Whitehead M., Policies and strategies to promote social equity in health, World Health Organisation, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, 1992. 3. The World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, 1987. 4. The Ministry of Health and Care Services; Public Health Reporting, Good Health Shared Responsibility, Report. St. 34, 2013. 5. Major E.F., Dalgard O.S., Mathisen K.S., etc., Better safe than sorry - Mental health: Health promotion and preventative measures and recommendations, Public Health Institute, Report 2011:1, 201 6. Young M.E., Richardson L.M., Early Child Development. From Measurement to Action. A Priority for Growth and Equity. : The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/THE WORLD BANK, 2007 7. The Child, Youth and Family Agency, The Report on Growing up, 2013. 8. Based in particular on Gro Jamtvedt in the National Knowledge Centre for Health Services (kunnskapssenteret.no) MUNICIPAL OBJECTIVES

• Our municipalities are good communities to live in for a whole lifetime, and everyone feel as a valued part of the community • All children must be given the best possible start in life • All the inhabitants feel secure, they have control of their everyday life and they have added several active years of life with good health and well-being • Our municipalities are a force for development in a sustainable and robust part of Central Norway

STRATEGIES

A) Securing sustainable societies B) Prioritising a good start and control of the C) Creating generous and robust living conditions whole of life • Prioritising prevention and early intervention • Supporting a good (livable) local environment • Prioritising measures that benefit large • Prioritising the child's early conditions of • Developing active and more compact centres sections of the population life and opportunities to cope with life with concentration of buildings in the various • Ensuring that municipal efforts are • Facilitating inclusion, safety and parts of the municipalities prioritised according to the citizens' needs participation in social communities • Stimulating beautiful and vibrant centers and • Arranging for an innovative and profitable • Prioritising measures that reduce social secure areas for safe green spaces, meeting working and business world and increased inequalities in health and conditions of life places and accessible infrastructure food production • Facilitating and fostering a healthy lifestyle • Making it easier and more attractive to walk and • Taking still clearer responsibility for • Emphasising the residents' own resources bicycle environmental and climate challenges and experiences in the provision of services • Facilitating play, activity, culture and outdoor • Mobilising local community resources • Emphasising the family and network activities and leisure facilities for all regardless of through transparency, the involvement of perspective age and functional level citizens and collaboration and alliances with • Achieving a close and equal partnership • Facilitating a differentiated residential offering knowledge institutions, business, the cultural with the citizens that responds to citizens' needs and the voluntary sector and public players • Improving the learning outcomes in schools • Encouraging residents to take better care of each • Ensuring holistic solutions, coordinated work • Working to ensure a good and inclusive other and their surroundings processes and future-oriented and workplace • Facilitating continuity and resilience in the knowledge-based services • Giving all citizens the opportunity for voluntary sector and clarifying the distribution of • Reconciling policy and service provision cultural experiences responsibilities and interaction between non- through binding, coherent and economically governmental, public and private players sustainable planning • Building on development and innovation as • Contribute to a sustainable development in natural factors in the organisation and society the region with emphasis on infrastructure, • Strengthening the identity and attractiveness of business and cooperation with other the region through a focus on our achievements municipalities and character