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. 

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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. 

Fysiotherapie en vergroening: resonantie tussen gezondheid en ecologie

De klimaat- en biodiversiteitscrisis stelt ons als fysiotherapeuten niet alleen voor praktische vragen, maar ook voor fundamentele uitdagingen in hoe wij als fysiotherapeuten gezondheid, zorg en verantwoordelijkheid begrijpen en vormgeven. Deze uitdagingen brengen ons...

When knowledge begins to move: Teaching planetary health advocacy in physiotherapy education

In my role as a lecturer in the physiotherapy programme at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, I have spent some years working at the intersection of planetary health, environmental physiotherapy, and sustainable healthcare. As the teacher responsible for these topics...

The power of trees

Trees are the lifeblood of the earth. Their roots run deep in the soil and resemble the veins and arteries of our planet, sustaining and nourishing the life of the ground around them. Their very existence helps to create oxygen that sustains most life on our little...

Intersections of Health, Social, and Environmental Justice: A Canadian Perspective

At the first-ever Environmental Physiotherapy Festival 2023, Erin Keough, Susan Czyzo and I came together to host a talk and discussion on the intersections of different justice areas, the environment, and healthcare, all while centering a Canadian perspective. We...

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