Planetary Health: Towards Just Futures

About

In the face of escalating climate crises and environmental degradation, understanding the profound interconnections between human health and planetary well-being is more critical than ever. Inequalities in the impacts of connected systems, both between and within countries, are also drawing increased attention to issues of justice and equity. This summer course offers a unique opportunity to explore the health impacts of climate change, environmental degradation, and global inequalities through an interdisciplinary lens. The course emphasizes the disproportionate burden placed on marginalized communities while examining pathways for justice, transformation, and activism.

Throughout the course, participants will learn how the Planetary Health crisis is more than climate change alone but part of a wider environmental and systems-level issue that exacerbates an ongoing public health crisis, which itself is underpinned by societal inequities in health outcomes, access to resources, and political power. Drawing on case studies, historical perspectives, and the latest research, participants will engage deeply with themes such as decoloniality, the social, spatial, and political determinants of health, and the role of the private sector in health-harming (e.g. fossil fuels, tobacco, alcohol) and health-promoting (e.g. “green” technologies) activities. The course will also explore how urbanization and large infrastructure developments have concomitant impact on human health and living environments. Additionally, the course will encourage transformative thinking, providing participants with the tools to envision alternative, sustainable futures and the practical skills to advocate for health equity in their personal and professional lives.

Led by experts from various fields, the course includes interactive lectures, group discussions, and reflective sessions, offering both theoretical insights and practical approaches to integrating a planetary health perspective into their daily lives, advocacy, and activism. Participants will explore their roles as academics, professionals, and change-makers, fostering a sense of responsibility and agency to address the pressing challenges posed by the planetary health crisis.

Course leader

Dr. George Downward, Dr. Joyce Browne, Prof. dr. Ajay Bailey, drs. Camilla Alay Llamas, drs. Juliette Mattijsen

Fee info