Planetary Health Education – Building Solidarity for a Better Future
At the opening of the UN Climate negotiations, or COP27, in Egypt, UN General Secretary António Guterres delivered a clarion call for change. “Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish. It is either a climate solidarity pact – or a collective suicide pact.” In multiple ways, humans are threatening the Earth’s natural systems upon which life depends. This is a critical and urgent moment to change our course. It is also an opportunity to redesign structures that heretofore have benefited some, and not others. Transformation of human systems will improve human health, protect biodiversity, and ensure a sustainable planet for future generations. This presentation will discuss ways to redesign curriculum to build hope and inspire solidarity.
Teddie M. Potter is Director of Planetary Health and Clinical Professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing. Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change and planetary health education and is a member of both the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. She chairs Clinicians for Planetary Health (C4PH) and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance at Harvard. She currently serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the US Health Sector. In 2019, Dr. Potter was appointed the first Director of Planetary Health for the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota.
