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. 

¿Qué es la salud planetaria?

La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) define salud como “un estado de bienestar físico, mental y social que permite el desarrollo óptimo del individuo”. Desde la pura definición del término, la salud planetaria va mucho más allá en su complejidad, ya que aspira a...

It’s time we admitted it..

'Admit that humans have crawled or secreted themselves into every corner of the environment; admit that the environment is actually inside human bodies and minds, and then proceed politically, technologically, scientifically, in everyday life, with careful...

【開催レポート】環境理学療法座談会 in Japan 2025

~気候危機がもたらす臨床の変化と、リハビリテーション専門職の新たな役割~ 2025年11月20日(木)、環境理学療法協会(Environmental Physiotherapy Association: EPA)が主催する「EPA regions roundtables in Japan」がオンラインにて開催されました。本イベントは、EPAが世界各地で同日に開催するグローバルイベントの一環であり、日本国内のみならず海外在住の理学療法士も含め、16名が集まりました。開催の背景と基調講演  ...

Building a bridge between landscape architecture & physiotherapy

Physical Environment & Health It is well documented that the physical environment influences population health, has an impact on chronic diseases and could have a preventative role on human’s health and wellbeing by promoting physical activity (Sallis et al.,...

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