Kent is proud to work with Kent County Council as it kickstarts a major public health programme on the Kent coast, bringing the UK’s first Marmot Coastal Region (MCR) to the county.
A Marmot Place actively improves health equity through eight key principles, including giving children the best start in life, creating fair employment, and building sustainable communities. Over 50 UK areas, like Coventry (the first in 2013), Greater Manchester, Leeds, and Luton, have adopted this status to prioritize preventive action and partnerships across sectors.
As a higher education anchor in the region, the University of Kent is well positioned to support through partnerships and civic activity. We lead and host several initiatives and research groups aligned with Marmot Places’ focus on health equity, social determinants, and reducing inequalities, including those relevant to Kent efforts like the Coastal Region Programme.
Impactful Research
Through its Public Health Group, the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) conducts multidisciplinary research on health inequalities, population health intelligence, policy evaluations, and interventions like obesity prevention—directly matching Marmot Principles on fair employment, healthy communities, and prevention. CHSS partners with Kent Public Health for evidence-based commissioning and has over 20 years in surveys like Healthquest SouthEast.
The Primary Care Research Group within CHSS collaborates with NHS Kent and Medway on primary care evidence, staff wellbeing, and population health via the “quadruple aim,” fostering research-active practices in Kent districts, including Canterbury.
These groups position the University of Kent as an anchor institution for the Kent Marmot programme, enabling collaborations on skills, work, and community health via health alliances and economic frameworks.
A Civic role
The University of Kent’s flagship civic missions on Right to Food and University of Sanctuary align closely with Marmot Places’ goals of tackling social determinants like healthy living standards, healthy communities, and reducing inequalities.
As part of our work as the first Right to Food University, we have committed to eliminating food insecurity for students, staff, and local communities through free/subsidised meals, sustainable campus food systems, research on food access barriers, and partnerships like the Kent Food Partnership and Kent Gleaning Collective. This work directly addresses Marmot health inequalities by targeting food insecurity as a key social determinant that disproportionately affects deprived communities, aligning with principles on healthy living standards and ill-health prevention.
As a designated University of Sanctuary, Kent fosters capabilities maximisation and combats discrimination which aid vulnerable coastal populations facing employment barriers and racism, enhancing fair work.
Raising aspirations
The University’s Outreach and Widening Participation team works with schools and colleges across Kent’s Marmot Coastal Region to raise aspirations and support students who face systemic barriers and educational inequalities. Through sustained programmes with partner institutions, the team helps address attainment gaps and expand opportunities for young people in line with Marmot principles.
Collaborations and Partnerships
Professor Iain Wilkinson, Lead for The Right to Food and Sanctuary at Kent is a Director on the Kent Food Partnership (KFP). Involving University of Kent, Kent County Council Public Health, Produced in Kent, and Social Enterprise Kent, the KFP drives the Kent Food Strategy (launched 2024) targeting food poverty, diet-related ill-health, and waste—core Marmot concerns. It gained Sustainable Food Places status in 2023, with working groups on health procurement and community skills shared at Kent Food Summits.
The University is also a partner in The Kent and Medway Partnership for Enterprise, Food and Health . Led by Natural Resources Institute, the project has Marmot-aligned pillars like health training and food innovation.
Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, Acting Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Kent, says: ‘We are pleased to be working alongside other major organisations in Kent to support Kent County Council in this endeavour to improve health and social outcomes in East Kent, launching the first coastal Marmot region. As an anchor institution deeply committed to our region and our civic purpose we welcome this strategic approach and stand ready to support through improved access to education, impactful research and training, and our convening power.’
Kent’s Marmot Coastal Region stretches from Swale to Folkestone & Hythe, and includes Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, and Ashford, which has close transport and economic links to coastal districts, including hosting the Inland Border Facility at Sevington which serves the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.
At the launch today, Kent County Council’s (KCC) Leader outlined significant commitments to help tackle unemployment and lack of opportunity, two root causes of health inequality, in the first 24-months of the long-term initiative.
Find out more about the initiative in the KCC press release: https://news.kent.gov.uk/articles/kcc-kickstarts-major-public-health-programme-on-kents-east-coast-uks-first-marmot-coastal-region