Planetary Health

ISGlobal Strategic Plan is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through different strategic actions. One of these strategies is Planetary Health.

Planetary Health has gained widespread visibility with the publication of The Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health (Lancet, 2015). Two recent examples of this growing interest are the recognition of Planetary Health in the Call for Action of the Summit Our Planet, Our Future organized by the Foundation of the Nobel Prize and the National Academy of Science in USA and signed by 126 Nobel Laureates, and the recent adoption of Planetary Health as a thematic focus area by the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils Network (EEAC Network).

As part of the Severo Ochoa programme, ISGlobal has initiated a series of actions to contribute developing a Planetary Health approach in global and local contexts. These actions have included research and translation, education and outreach.

The main objectives of the Planetary Health activities at ISGlobal are:

• Strengthen the network of Planetary Health in Europe and Internationally
• Contribute to develop an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and innovation agenda for Planetary Health
• Promote interdisciplinary training in Planetary Health
• Establish local and international alliances in the field

Promoting Postgraduate Education in Planetary Health in Europe

The Centre for Studies on Planetary Wellbeing at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Planetary Health Alliance European Hub co-organized a workshop to share and discuss recent developments in Postgraduate Education in Planetary Health in Europe. The main aim was to bring together various stakeholders from academic institutions in Europe to present their new developments in Planetary Health in Postgraduate Education.

Main objectives

• Share innovative experiences in the field of Postgraduate Education in Planetary Health
• Identify barriers, challenges and research and innovation opportunities
• Promote collaborations between universities and other academic institutions

Date and Time

10th May 2023

9.00 - 17.00 h CEST

Format and structure

The workshop was organized in a hybrid mode, in person at Pompeu Fabra University – Campus Ciutadella in Barcelona, and online via Zoom. The first part focused on presenting the developments of new programs on Planetary Health by bringing together the directors of several Planetary Health programs that are being developed in various European universities. The second part of the session focused on how we can incorporate the Planetary Health approach in Public Health Masters by sharing experiences and understanding the roles of the European Public Health Schools & Associations. The program included also an afternoon group discussion to explore future collaborations with other UPF & UOC programs. 

Target audience

Educators in the field of Planetary Health & Public Health, people involved in the development of post-graduate education in topics related to Planetary Health, students particularly interested in the field of education in Planetary Health.

More Information

• Recordings of this session

Fostering Applications on Planetary Health to the Horizon Europe Programme

The HERA project, ISGlobal, the LSHTM, and the THL organized a webinar with the aim to inspire and stimulate applications to the Horizon Europe call: HORIZON-HLTH-2023-ENVHLTH-2.01: Planetary health: understanding the links between environmental degradation and health impacts. The webinar took place online last 13th and 14th of December from 15.00-18.00 h CET. More than 170 people registered for the webinar coming from more than 20 different European countries and outside.

The webinar agenda was organized according to the activities that were likely to be highlighted in the call. These activities in its turn contributed to a number of expected outcomes, most of them related to policies, policymakers, stakeholders, and citizens. The state of art presentations and discussions, by experts in the field, was expected to be broad and inspiring so that they could be useful for different approaches and applications to current and future calls. 

More Information

• Agenda and recordings for both days

Planetary Health: When People's Health Depends on the Health of the Planet

The Advisory Council for Sustainable Development of Catalonia and the Public Health Secretary organized the session “Planetary health: when people's health depends on the planet's health as part of the "Margarita Coll" training program.

The objectives of this session, which took place online last 17 of February 2023, were:

• To present the interrelation between the state of the planet's health and the health and well-being of people.
• To present the concept of 'Planetary Health' and the importance of incorporating it transversally into public policies.
• To present various initiatives promoted by the Government of Catalonia, with a strong interdepartmental character, which address some of the transformations necessary to face the challenges of planetary health.

The session included a talk about "Planetary Health: a new paradigm of public health in the Anthropocene era", by Dr. Josep Maria Antó Boqué, senior researcher at ISGlobal (Institute of Global Health of Barcelona), professor emeritus of Medicine at Pompeu Fabra University and co-director of the master's degree in planetary health at UOC, ISGlobal and the UPF.

More Information

• Agenda
• Recording of the session

Towards a Planetary thinking in Public Health —Biennal Ciutat i Ciència

Cristina O’Callaghan and Margarita Triguero participated as speakers in a session from ‘La Biennal Ciutat i Ciència’ called ‘Towards a Planetary thinking in Public Health’. This session focused on the emerging field of planetary health, emphasizing our understanding of how global environmental change is endangering human health, as well as the diversity. of solutions to reduce humanity's ecological footprint and ensure a habitable future.

More Information

• Official’s webpage event here (February, 2023)

Meeting on Climate Change Research —Support for Redefining the Social and Environmental determinants of Health

On 30 March 2023, the Foundation for research, teaching, training and professional competence of Spanish college doctors and the Organización Médica Colegial Española organized a Conference on Climate Change and Health Research after a year of activity of the AMCC (Medical Alliance Against Climate Change), where they joined forces with Scientific Societies and the Colleges and General Counsel of Physicians. The session was introduced by Dr. Tomas Cobo Castro, president of the Foundation and the Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Médicos de España (CGCOM) and included the participation of Dr. Pedro Cabrera, president of the Colegio de Médicos de Las Palmas and coordinator of the working group on health and climate change at the CGCOM. Josep M. Antó discussed the 2022 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Change.

More Information

• Website of the Spanish Medical Association (Organización Médica Colegial de España)

• O'Callaghan-Gordo C, et al. Responding to the need of postgraduate education for Planetary Health: Development of an online Master's Degree. Front Public Health. 2022 Oct 26;10:969065. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.969065. PMID: 36388308; PMCID: PMC9643718.