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. 

Celebrating the achievements of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association

In August 2019 the Environmental Physiotherapy Association was launched. In the last 5 years the Association has made huge progress in highlighting the links between the environment and human health, and the role of physiotherapy in protecting, improving and utilising...

Duurzaamheid en zingeving in de fysiotherapie

Kleine stappen, grote betekenis Duurzaamheid in de fysiotherapie overstijgt het eenvoudig verminderen van de ecologische voetafdruk van individuele fysiotherapeuten of praktijken. Het gaat ook om het smeden van een gezonde en veerkrachtige samenleving. Onze recente...

Come into action: A water project

How hard is it to come into action, specifically concerning environmental issues? If you're honestly planning to save the world, it could be pretty hard! Couldn't it? But even if you don't care about the environment on a daily basis in your job or have had training in...

How to move a mountain with a biodegradable spoon

The move towards an environmentally sustainable teaching facility for clinical physiotherapy practice or even a private community practice is a challenging task. We asked our staff and students what they would like to see changed. The younger staff and students, who...

If you have any thoughts, ideas or questions about environmental physiotherapy,
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