Education Framework - Planetary Health Alliance

The Planetary Health Education Framework

About the Planetary Health Education Framework

The Planetary Health Education Framework aims to guide the education of global citizens, practitioners, and professionals able and willing to address the complex Planetary Health challenges of our world today. The framework also seeks to inspire all peoples across the globe to create, restore, steward, and conserve healthy ecosystems for a thriving human civilization. We envisage that the framework will contribute to positive outcomes for the biosphere, overcoming the Planetary Health challenges before us.

The Planetary Health Education framework considers five foundational domains that we as a group believe comprise the essence of Planetary Health knowledge, values, and practice:

(1) interconnection within Nature
(2) the Anthropocene and health
(3) equity and social justice
(4) movement building and systems change
(5) systems thinking and complexity.

The framework can be understood as a common foundational language that serves as the cornerstone for diverse education strategies. To ground the framework in action, each domain includes suggested process outcomes and key Planetary Health themes and concepts. The work intends to move beyond thematic areas of interest or a prescriptive list of competencies towards the recognition of the diverse inquiries (i.e, the why/affective, the what/representation, the how/strategic) that can shape Planetary Health Education.

Read and download the full framework to learn more about the process of creating the framework, and for a detailed description of each of the five Planetary Health education domains.

Read the Framework Here

Read the brief Commentary published by The Lancet Planetary Health on Earth Day 2021.

Read The Commentary Here

About the Framework Design

At the core of the framework are the five Planetary Health Education domains represented in an intertwined figure, similar to the threads of a rope (Figures below. Although the model separates each domain, the reality of Planetary Health demands us to understand the interdependent and interconnected nature of each domain. The division of the domains is artificial and remains only for didactic purposes. While the domains can be teased out one by one (Figure 4), they only function appropriately when interwoven together. The analogy also emphasizes that the total strength of the framework, similar to a rope and its threads, is larger than the sum of its parts. The outer rings of the framework are the different conditions influencing the way in which the five domains are understood and taught; that is, how key Planetary Health themes, topics, and concepts will vary with time and context.

Fostering empathy for our planet through the recognition of the personal, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of the education process is the central element of the Planetary Health Framework. In order for education to be truly transformative, it must be centered on the affective, experiential, and caring aspects of the learning process. As a commitment to this shift in the role of education from the informative to the transformative, we have placed the Interconnection within Nature as the central element of the five domains.

Questions?

Contact lead author and PHA Associate Director, Dr. Carlos Faerron Guzman, if you have any questions about the Education Framework.

Stay engaged!

Watch CUGH's Webinar: Planetary Health Education Framework. The recording and slides can be found here.
Learn more about other PHA Education initiatives
Join the PHA's Education Working Groups on Hylo
Contribute to the PHA Education Database

The Planetary Health Education Framework

Planetary Health Alliance

The Planetary Health Alliance is a consortium of over 340 universities, government entities, research institutes, and other partners around the world committed to understanding and addressing global environmental change and its health impacts.