These are exciting times for environmental physiotherapy! Nearly exactly two years since the inception of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association (EPA), we are proud and delighted to say that we have become a member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
The mission of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) is to promote integrated approaches to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, through education, research, policy analysis, and global cooperation. Set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, the SDSN is a non-profit organization that mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development through close collaboration with United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.
The SDSN does significant amounts of research and policy development related to the SDGs, including the publication of The Sustainable Development Report, under the leadership of SDSN director and UN advisor Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. The Sustainable Development Report is the first worldwide study to assess where each country stands with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Of particular relevance to the healthcare professions, is that not only governments, but civil society alike can utilize the Sustainable Development Report to identify priorities for action, understand key implementation challenges, track progress, ensure accountability, and identify gaps that must be closed in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Filip Maric (PhD)
PT, EPA Founder
Filip Maric is a physiotherapy lecturer and researcher at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. He is interested in the outer rims of healthcare and physiotherapy, practical philosophy, ethics, #EnviroPT, planetary health and sea kayaking.
As a key factor in support of this process, the SDSN also runs The SDG Academy. The SDSN’s flagship education initiative works to create and curate relevant, diverse content on the SDGs, make it available to a global audience, and establish partnerships to train and prepare both educators and practitioners, in this generation and the next, to achieve the SDGs.
The SDG Academy brings together the world’s experts to create and deliver educational content on critical issues for the future of people and planet, including health, education, climate change, agriculture and food systems, and sustainable investment. Much like the EPT Agenda 2023 and many of the other projects of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association, it is based on the belief that education and knowledge are the first steps towards achieving the SDGs. Our materials are global in nature, based on science, taught by experts in their fields, accessible online, created in partnership with SDSN members and other organizations from around the world, built to scale, and has already reached hundreds of thousands of learners around the world!
More recently, the UN SDSN also launched SDG Action as a new initiative to support the UN’s Decade of Action – the global effort to mobilize governments, businesses, and civil society to deliver the SDGs by 2030. SDG Action is an invaluable resource for sustainability practitioners in all sectors. Its emphasis will be on identifying opportunities and providing tangible ways to accelerate progress.
There is so much more going on in and with the SDSN, but we will leave it here and highly recommend that you check out the incredible amount of resources and activities of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions network and follow the SDSN on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn.
As the Environmental Physiotherapy Association, we are beyond excited to deepen our learning, broaden our network and collaborations, and advance our efforts for planetary health and the SDGs!
#EnviroPT ❤️ #Agenda2030 #SDGs 🌏 🌍 🌎 🚑
