Advancing an environmentally responsible physiotherapy

 

The world faces complex and interrelated crises… Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, rapid urbanization, geopolitical conflict and militarization, demographic change, population displacement, poverty, and widespread inequity create risks of future crises even more severe than those experienced today. Responses require investments that integrate planetary, societal, community and individual health and well-being (WHO 2021 Geneva Charter for Wellbeing)

 

 The impact of human activities on our planet’s natural systems has been intensifying rapidly in the past several decades, leading to disruption and transformation of most natural systems. These disruptions in the atmosphere, oceans, and across the terrestrial land surface are not only driving species to extinction, they pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing. Characterising and addressing these threats requires a paradigm shift (Myers, 2017)

Action at the level of direct drivers of nature decline, although necessary, is not sufficient … a sustainable global future’ is ‘only possible with urgent transformative change that tackles the root causes: the interconnected economic, socio-cultural, demographic, political, institutional, and technological indirect drivers behind the direct drivers (Diaz et al., 2019)

About

An international community of academics, clinicians, practitioners and students interested in exploring and advancing the field of environmental physiotherapy. 

Blog

Follow our latest musings on environmental physiotherapy. Ideas, inspiration, news, publications, events, and more. 

Join

Become part of the first international community of physiotherapists with an interest in researching, developing, and practising physiotherapy at a planetary scale. 

Resources

A growing selection of resources carefully selected by members of the EPA to inspire your thinking and practice of environmental physiotherapy. 

Environmental Physiotherapy at the WCPT Congress 2021

The Environmental Physiotherapy Association was formed only a week ago and we could not have asked for a better start. The quickly growing membership is clearly showing that there is a huge amount of interest and enthusiasm in the field of environmental physiotherapy...

Two football pitches a day, and hardly anyone notices

Recently, I saw a Norwegian documentary called Oppsynsmannen and read an article on NRK that stayed with me longer than expected because of one simple number (Hammerstad et.al. 2023, Støstad et.al 2025). Every day in Norway, an area of nature the size of two football...

Umwelteinflüsse und ihre Bedeutung im diagnostischen Prozess in der Physiotherapie

Die Umwelt und der Mensch können nicht losgelöst voneinander betrachtet oder analysiert werden. Auch wenn Umwelt auf den ersten Blick abstrakt und fern wirkt, hat sie doch durchgehend einen fundamentalen Anteil an der menschlichen Entwicklung im physischen, kognitiven...

Upcoming EPT webinar: Nature-based therapies for healthcare providers

What are nature-based therapies and how can they be included in a rehabilitation care plan? In this webinar, Ziya "Z" Altug will explore mind-body movements, such as tai chi, qigong, and yoga, and discuss how to utilize them in clinical practice. This webinar will...

If you have any thoughts, ideas or questions about environmental physiotherapy,
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