Human activities are reshaping the Earth by changing the climate, polluting the air, water, and soils, and eroding biodiversity. But what does this mean for our own health and wellbeing? Environmental change represents the greatest threat to human wellbeing, health, and life. It affects us directly through heat waves, extreme weather events, and pollution, and indirectly by altering the social, economic, and biological determinants of health worldwide. The field of Planetary Health offers a multidisciplinary, holistic, and solutions-oriented perspective on these challenges. It explores how we can meet them through sustainable practices, mitigation, and adaptation, both within and beyond the healthcare sector.
PlanetaryHealth.now welcomes learners from all backgrounds and explores the environmental crisis through the lens of health and wellbeing, and vice versa.
Learning goals
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Analyse how environmental changes like climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss affect human health and wellbeing around the world.
- Examine how healthcare and food systems both impact and are impacted by the environment and explore ways to make them more sustainable and resilient.
- Apply Planetary Health thinking to imagine solutions that promote equity, justice, and transformative change for people and the planet.
Course level: Master.
Pre-requisites: No pre-requisites.
Scope: 3 ECTS.
Available language: English.
Authors: University of Helsinki.
Where to study:
- University of Helsinki. Course code: MED-MOOC75.
- MOOC: planetary-health.mooc.fi
- Open Access material on DigiCampus.