Health, wellbeing and ESD: Lessons from the health professions
Stefi Barna Sustainable Healthcare Education Network Norwich
Medical School, University of East Anglia Trevor Thompson Bristol
Medical School Sarah Walpole Hull York Medical School Izzy
Braithwaite Healthy Planet / Medsin Frances Mortimer Centre for
Sustainable Healthcare
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11/19/10
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Health focus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXtGHxU7oYM&feature=player_embedded
Security focus: https://vimeo.com/32522190
https://youtu.be/CqMaDc4G_vs
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diabetes heart disease cancers obesity respiratory conditions
road injury & deaths How we move What we eat Managing the
unavoidable Heat warning systems Flood response Floodplain clinics
Avoiding the unmanageable Health co-benefits
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What is higher education for?
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11/19/10
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Priority Learning Objectives - Medicine 1.Describe how the
environment and human health interact 2. Demonstrate the knowledge
and skills to improve the environmental sustainability of health
systems 3. Discuss the duty of a doctor to protect and promote
health HEA 2012 Collaborative Curriculum Design: Preparing Medical
Students to Lead a Sustainable Healthcare System
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1. Knowledge: How the environment and human health interact
Dependence of human health on global and local ecological systems
Contribution of human activity and population size to environmental
changes Mechanisms by environmental change affects human health
Disease vectorsExtreme weatherFood securityMigration Co-benefits:
features of a health-promoting local environment and synergies
between environmental sustainability and health promotion Clean
airActive travel infrastructureGreen spaces
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2. Skills: Improve the sustainability of health systems
Definitions of environmental sustainability Trends affecting our
ability to provide healthcare into the future Demographics,
technology, climate, resource availability Measuring environmental
impacts of healthcare provision Ways to improve the environmental
sustainability of health systems Triple bottom line Individual
practice, health service policy, management, design of care systems
NHS could save 1bn by adopting green strategies used in kidney
units BMJ, Jan 2013
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3. Values: Discuss the duty of a doctor to protect and promote
health Health impacts of environmental change are distributed
unequally within and between populations Disparity between those
most responsible and those most affected by change Personal values
concerning environmental sustainability Ethical tensions
Individuals / groups; prevention / treatment; local / global; this
generation / next
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EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY
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It is worth noting that the destruction of the planet is not
the work of ignorant people. Rather it is largely the results of
work by people with BAs, BScs, LLBs, MBAs, and PhDs Education can
equip people to be more effective vandals of the earth. If one
listens carefully it may even be possible to hear the Creation
groan every year in late May when another batch of smart, degree-
holding, ecologically illiterate, Homo sapiens eager to succeed are
launched into the biosphere. David Orr
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Student Interest National Union of Students / Higher Education
Academy
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There is, at present, no country which is sustainable. This
means that there is no roadmap or recipe for success; graduates
will have to learn their way toward more sustainable futures.
Prescott Allen 2002 Achieving sustainable development is
essentially a process of learning UNESCO 2002
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UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
2005-2014
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What is higher education for? The role of the university in an
unsustainable world
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Student-Staff Collaborative Handbook Getting Sustainability
Into Your Degree Programme 1. In what way is your discipline
related to a more sustainable world? 2. What knowledge, skills or
attributes are needed to help bring it about? 3. How can they best
be acquired? Process: Drafted by enthusiasts; developed in
discussion with students Input from other HEIs Distribute via the
National Union of Students, the HEA and Education for
Sustainability networks
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Maths Ability to understand the concept of uncertainty Ability
to formulate environmental and sustainability issues into
mathematical problems and generate mathematical solutions
Sustainable teaching methods: chalk and blackboards
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English Eco-criticism - Relationship between cultural texts and
the environment - Continuity with the traditions that challenge the
values of industrial capitalism - Draws on concepts from scientific
ecology to reflect on the relationship between types of knowledge
normally regarded as separate - Challenges a common attitude among
students that literature exists to provide an escape from serious
problems, and that preferences are personal The Other Translation
studies: Exposure to multiple cultures; critical reflection on
cultural variation to understand differences in meaning, mentality
and worldview adopted by different cultural groups The study of
English will not provide students with detailed knowledge and
skills for sustainable living. On the other hand, the study of
science alone will not equip students to challenge and change
culture in the way that sustainable development requires.
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Business and Management Business and economic activities may be
the most important drivers of environmental degradation Although an
understanding of sustainability requires some new curricular
material, it is primarily a perspective through which to approach
existing topics such as economic inequalities and business
leadership Describe how the environment and businesses interact at
different levels; Discuss how the role of for-profit organisations
can converge with the agenda for sustainability Demonstrate the
knowledge and skills needed to improve the environmental
sustainability of businesses. UN Principles Responsible Management
Education; UN Global Compact Economics Public Economics and
Environmental Economics consider the best way to (re-) design
incentives to increase living standards within environmental
constraints vs We should simply expose students to a plurality of
economic models
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Occupational Therapy Humans are occupational beings in everyday
activities Health co-benefits of a low carbon society Midwifery
Midwives are involved with increasing the population of the world
Growing healthcare complexity / waste Growing role in promoting
healthy lifestyles - should include environment
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Social Work Social work addresses the multiple, complex
transactions between people and their environments. Intl Federation
of Social Workers 2014) Like ESD, social work is an interrelated
system of values, theory and practice; social workers are change
agents in society and in the lives of the individuals, families and
communities they serve Now: Marketisation of specific social care
provisions to tightly- defined groups of service users rather than
participative community social work to identify communities
priorities
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The educator is able to help students use the natural, social
and built environment as a context for learning build on existing
knowledge and experience identify problems and reflect critically
on assumptions think creatively about the future and explore
alternative pathways communicate about risk and appropriate action
in situations of uncertainty work across dilemmas, differences and
conflicts to effect change critically assess processes of change
connect to their local and global spheres of influence The educator
as facilitator and participant
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Wellbeing, Economy, Environment What is an economic system for?
Quality of life Effects on wellbeing and on environment, positive
and negative How to maximise both? Tradeoffs? Now and in future?
Tradeoffs? What is wellbeing? Operational measurements ONS: How
satisfied? How happy/anxious? How worthwhile US (Gallup) -
$75,000
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FUTURE SKILLS INITIATIVE Employability for a Sustainable World
Stefi Barna Lecturer in Global Public Health University of East
Anglia
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QAA - Questions educators may ask themselves Debating
sustainability / sustainable development How does education for
sustainable development relate to my discipline? To what extent am
I already covering sustainable development issues and how can I
make those features more explicit? What types of case studies exist
within, or are applicable to, my discipline? Where knowledge is
contested, or values are involved, what position will I take in a
presentation or discussion? Should I state my views at the outset?
How will I handle the provisional and ever changing nature of
knowledge about sustainable development? Engaging students How can
I help students develop interdisciplinary thinking and encourage
them to take a holistic approach? If many of my students perceive
sustainable development as solely or primarily an environmental
issue, how can I ensure they understand the balance between
society, economy and environment? The words 'sustainability' and
'sustainable development' do not resonate with the vocabulary
commonly used in my discipline. What alternative words and concepts
could I use? What vocabulary might need to be shared in order for
us to engage in multidisciplinary discussion? How can I make best
use of students' prior learning about sustainable development to
enhance the curriculum? How can I encourage students to understand
a range of cultural perspectives on problems relating to
sustainable development? How can I involve students in the
development of the education process? The learning environment How
can I provide authentic learning opportunities, enabling students
to relate their knowledge and skills to real- life problems,
locally and globally? How do I create a learning environment in
which the personal views of individual students about sustainable
development can be safely shared and evaluated? To what extent is
cultural diversity reflected in the student body? How can I adapt
for similarities and differences? Are there ways in which it would
be appropriate for me / my students to evaluate sustainability
within the institution?
