Planet.Health: An Ecosystem Approach to Imagine and Coordinate for Planetary Health Futures

• Published in: Challenges (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 39
• Main Authors: Shannon, Geordan, Faddoul, Alix, Lai, Alexander, Lai, Tony, Lauer, Jeremy, Rajagopalan, Srivatsan, Issa, Rita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2023
• Subjects: Blockchain; Climate change; Collaboration; Communities of practice; Community; community building; Conferences, meetings and seminars; cultural shift; Distance learning; Ecosystems; Energy industry; Environment; Environmental economics; Environmental health; Imagination; Impact analysis; Low income groups; Participation; planetary health; Planets; R&D; Research & development; Social networks; Social organization; Technological change; Technology; Verbal communication; web3; United Kingdom; Switzerland; Germany; France
• ISSN: 2078-1547; 2078-1547
• DOI: 10.3390/challe14040039

Planet.Health addresses imagination and coordination challenges for planetary health through innovative approaches to social organising. This report presents the findings from the inaugural Planet.Health event in 2022, including the Planet.Health unconference. An unconference is a participant-driven event format that provides flexibility for emergent ideas and connections. In this (un)conference report, we share the challenges, achievements, and lessons learned during the initial year of activities in the leadup to and following the Planet.Health unconference event. We also discuss how the intersection of web3 and planetary health—a major focus of the first year—provides an alternative lens for envisioning, innovating, and coordinating beyond conventional social and institutional frameworks. We explore the potential impact of web3 technologies and decentralised social, economic, and financial networks and highlight the implications of these approaches for addressing planetary crises and supporting a flourishing human–environment relationship. As a new contribution to the planetary health field, this work emphasises the importance of building decentralised systems to foster creative actions and inspire global engagement for planetary wellbeing. The report concludes with some practical insights on how we begin to build and sustain decentralised social networks, including a discussion of the benefits and limitations of these approaches.