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. 

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...

The struggle for the decolonisation of both people and nature

In Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter Aotearoa), upon the meeting of strangers with Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa), oftentimes you’ll hear the question “Ko wai koe?”, meaning “Who are you?”. The word ‘wai’ also translates to mean ‘water’. Thus for Māori, the...

How Green Is Physiotherapy? Lessons from a First Environmental Assessment

A few years ago, I shared here my decision to pursue a master’s degree in environmental sciences (Boiko, 2021). Today I’m excited to give an important update: my master’s thesis was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal, presenting what appears to be the first...

Hand in Hand We Can Make a Change: EPT student activities at Qatar University

Nature is a masterpiece, a symphony of colors, sounds, and scents. There is no doubt that this beauty is fading over time. Isn’t it time to start making a difference in our environment? At Qatar university, we are increasing our efforts in implementing environmental...

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