An inspiration-base for planetary health, environmental, and sustainability education in physiotherapy 

On this page, you will find information about how physiotherapy professional education programs around the world are beginning to integrate planetary health, environmental, and sustainability education. 

The education initiatives presented on this page represent a selection of results from the Environmental Physiotherapy Agenda 2023. Launched in the beginning of March 2020, the EPT Agenda 2023 is a call to action aiming at the integration of planetary health, environmental and sustainability perspectives into entry-level physiotherapy education around the world. On this basis, it is also a collaborative project bringing together an ever-growing number of supporting organisations and participating institutions to develop an interactive open-access repository collating diverse ideas, experiences and materials to facilitate the further development of this urgent field in healthcare research, practice and education. 

The educational projects and content presented on this page represent the thoughts and work of contributing authors and through these, an open and ongoing effort and discussion to meet the largest healthcare challenge and opportunity of the 21st century located at the nexus of health, society and our planetary environment.

Before this background all projects and materials are shared openly here because we believe that the challenges we are facing transcend outdated practices of interllectual property and siloed professional and academic leadership and competition, and call for collaboration above all else. Aside from these introductory paragraphs, we have chosen to present our efforts in a variety of languages because we believe that all voices must be heard, because culture, nature and language, biodiversity and linguistic diversity are deeply intertwined and must be supported as such, and because our efforts are and should be at once global and deeply related to the specific social and bioregional contexts in which we teach and learn together.

All contributors hope that you will find something of value or interest here and welcome constructive conversation and collaboration with the general public, as well as colleagues from across all health disciplines and beyond. For this purpose, each project features information about the contributors and a comment form that will enable you to get in touch with them directly through a variety of channels. Feel free to browse through the individual projects below, or use the category filter on this front page to group projects relating to your particular needs and interests.

If you have questions about the EPT Agenda 2023 in general, are a physiotherapy educator interested in participating and getting your physiotherapy school or university involved in the project, or would like to register your own environmental physiotherapy education projects on this page, please contact Filip Maric (PhD) directly. Contributions in any language and any format are welcome! We appreciate your help in advancing social and environmental awareness and responsibility across the health care and beyond.

You can read and download the entire EPT Agenda 2023 here in a variety of languages, both in full and in a summary presentation format. For a more recently published progress report please see: 

Maric, F., Chance-Larsen, K., Chevan, J., Jameson, S., Nicholls, D., Opsommer, E., Perveen, W., Richter, R., Stanhope, J., Stone, O., Strimpakos, N., Vieira, A., Williams, M., Zuber. S., Söderlund, A. (2021). A progress report on planetary health, environmental and sustainability education in physiotherapy – Editorial. European Journal of Physiotherapy, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2021.1932981

Introdução do tema da Fisioterapia Ambiental na licenciatura de Fisioterapia no ISAVE

Introdução do tema da Fisioterapia Ambiental na licenciatura de Fisioterapia no ISAVE

Using Mindfulness to Bridge the Gap in Student Perspectives

Using Mindfulness to Bridge the Gap in Student Perspectives

Implémentation de la durabilité dans le curriculum des physiothérapeutes : Place à la créativité !

Implémentation de la durabilité dans le curriculum des physiothérapeutes : Place à la créativité !

Corporeidade, Saúde e Educação: conexões com natureza e cultura

Corporeidade, Saúde e Educação: conexões com natureza e cultura

Between tradition and a sustainable future at Hochschule 21 University of Applied Sciences

Between tradition and a sustainable future at Hochschule 21 University of Applied Sciences

Punk it up! – Introducing physiotherapy students to climate change

Punk it up! – Introducing physiotherapy students to climate change

Disability and Health: A Comprehensive Course on Inclusion and Equity

Disability and Health: A Comprehensive Course on Inclusion and Equity

A Combined Pre & Post-Professional Education Session: The Role of Physical Therapy in Addressing Climate Change and Environmental Health

A Combined Pre & Post-Professional Education Session: The Role of Physical Therapy in Addressing Climate Change and Environmental Health

Including Environmental Physical Therapy in a Population Health Elective

Including Environmental Physical Therapy in a Population Health Elective

Introducing Environmental Sustainability to 3rd year Physiotherapy students at University of Plymouth, UK

Introducing Environmental Sustainability to 3rd year Physiotherapy students at University of Plymouth, UK

Erste Schritte zur Umwelt-Physiotherapie: Natur erleben beim Nordic Walking, und, hängen Wundheilung und Planetary Health zusammen?

Erste Schritte zur Umwelt-Physiotherapie: Natur erleben beim Nordic Walking, und, hängen Wundheilung und Planetary Health zusammen?

Experiencia docente introduciendo un seminario de fisioterapia medioambiental en el primer curso de los estudios de fisioterapia de la Universidad de Zaragoza en España

Experiencia docente introduciendo un seminario de fisioterapia medioambiental en el primer curso de los estudios de fisioterapia de la Universidad de Zaragoza en España

Integrating environmental and sustainability perspectives into first-year physiotherapy studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia

Integrating environmental and sustainability perspectives into first-year physiotherapy studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia

Promoción en salud, telesalud y optimización de recursos del entorno en la comunidad adulto mayor a lo largo de Chile

Promoción en salud, telesalud y optimización de recursos del entorno en la comunidad adulto mayor a lo largo de Chile

Determinants for health: the role of public space ‘Who, where, tools’?

Determinants for health: the role of public space ‘Who, where, tools’?

The SDGs and physiotherapy at UCN Denmark

The SDGs and physiotherapy at UCN Denmark

A workshop on the SDGs in the context of health promotion

A workshop on the SDGs in the context of health promotion

Gezondheidsvoorlichting en -opvoeding

Gezondheidsvoorlichting en -opvoeding

Work Health and Safety Practice at the University of South Australia, Adelaide

Work Health and Safety Practice at the University of South Australia, Adelaide

Offering an environmental physiotherapy project in a health promotion course

Offering an environmental physiotherapy project in a health promotion course

Implementation of Environmental Sciences in the Undergraduate Curriculum at The Neotia University, West Bengal, India

Implementation of Environmental Sciences in the Undergraduate Curriculum at The Neotia University, West Bengal, India

Santé et environnement : la nécessité d’une physiothérapie durable 

Santé et environnement : la nécessité d’une physiothérapie durable 

Introducing physiotherapy students to a global perspective of health

Introducing physiotherapy students to a global perspective of health

Wahlmodul Planetary Health: Klimakrise, Gesundheit und wir

Wahlmodul Planetary Health: Klimakrise, Gesundheit und wir

Organizational perspectives on healthcare and physiotherapy

Organizational perspectives on healthcare and physiotherapy

Considering active lifestyles and transport in physiotherapy assessment methods

Considering active lifestyles and transport in physiotherapy assessment methods

Environmental exposure as a foundation for health and wellbeing

Environmental exposure as a foundation for health and wellbeing

Threading the link between environment, health and functioning through the curriculum and extracurricular activities

Threading the link between environment, health and functioning through the curriculum and extracurricular activities

Introducing environmental physiotherapy in teaching about health promotion

Introducing environmental physiotherapy in teaching about health promotion

Die Bedeutung von Bewegung im Wald

Die Bedeutung von Bewegung im Wald

Thermoregulation und Klimawandel: Eine einführende Vorlesung

Thermoregulation und Klimawandel: Eine einführende Vorlesung

Ökologische Körper, relationale Anatomien

Ökologische Körper, relationale Anatomien

Physiopunk, eller hva har science-fiction å gjøre med fysioterapien? Introduserende undervisning i planetary health ved UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Physiopunk, eller hva har science-fiction å gjøre med fysioterapien? Introduserende undervisning i planetary health ved UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Other projects and resources in environmental physiotherapy education

    There are an increasing number of projects and resources surrounding planetary health, environmental and sustainability education. For published literature and relevant websites please visit our resources page.

    PREP-IP Persons with Refugee experience Education Project – Interprofessional

    The PREP-IP project addresses the mismatch between the competence of healthcare professionals and the complex rehabilitation needs of a growing population of refugees and migrants in Europe.

    In partnership with physiopedia and Plus, the Environmental Physiotherapy Association has launched an Environmental Physiotherapy Content Development Project and a growing range of Environmental Physiotherapy Courses featuring a growing number of courses related to environmental physiotherapy.

    Environmental Physiotherapy Education Podcast

    by Filip Maric, Shaun Cleaver, Cliona O'Sullivan, Adriane Vieira & Olivia Stone | In Beta Unconference 2020