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. 

Omhelzende natuur – een reflectie van een student op verbondenheid in de pandemie

Mezelf aanpassen aan de anderhalvemetermaatschappij, met daarin weinig tot geen lichamelijk contact: het is een flinke opgave en ik blijf het stug proberen. Zelfs na een jaar is het mij nog niet gelukt om hieraan te wennen. Dat is wellicht ook een goed teken, want het...

Student opinions: Should physiotherapists learn about environmental sustainability?

When I told some of my peers that I was doing my dissertation on environmental sustainability in physiotherapy, I got lots of comments like “But… why?” or “Wow that’s very niche!” With a degree with such a high workload already, why would you add sustainability to the...

Un taller de fisioterapia sostenible en la Facultat de Fisioteràpia en la Universitat de València

El lunes 19 de junio 2023, un grupo de estudiantes de Grado, Máster y Doctorado de Fisioterapia de la Universitat de València asistieron durante todo el día a un taller sobre Fisioterapia Medioambiental. El taller se organizó gracias a los esfuerzos del Comisión de...

The EPA Student Assembly

Students have been a critical part of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association since day one. The unquestionable passion of physiotherapy students wishing to learn how they can contribute to doing something positive for their environment as part of the profession...

If you have any thoughts, ideas or questions about environmental physiotherapy,
we would love to hear from you anytime

4 + 13 =