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. 

Sugar consumption is bad for human health, but have you thought about the effect of sugar production?

We are all aware of the negative health effects associated with sugar consumption, but have you thought about the planetary health implications of its production? Holidaying in Far North Queensland a few years ago brought home to me the scale of the destruction of the...

Pourquoi il est temps de s’engager collectivement pour une Kinésithérapie écologique?

À l’heure d’une prise de conscience populaire des modifications climatiques et de l’impact humain sur notre environnement, il est temps de proposer des actions concrètes pour réduire notre impact sur le climat. Pour rappel, selon l’IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on...

Showcasing the Potential of Student Research at the Fourth Environmental Physiotherapy Roundtable

For the fourth year in a row, toward the end of November each year since the launch of the EPA, we have hosted an environmental physiotherapy roundtable - an opportunity to come together amongst different groups of colleagues to share our thoughts and discuss and...

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...

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