Project 460693

Global climate change and ecological degradation are increasingly inevitable, and will reshape the nature and focus of public health in Canada. Heatwaves, fires, flooding, pandemics, and the sequelae of intensified resource extraction are impacting population and planetary health, exacerbating social/health inequities, and ravaging peoples made vulnerable by historical and continuing injustice. Public health systems/professionals, along with other 'first responders', are expected to address and reduce the impact without burning out. Requisite training in emergency response, community development, climate adaptation, and self-determination is not provided, nor was the public health system designed to navigate these crises. Experts are sounding the alarm regarding current public health training programs and the changing social, environmental, and political environments. In this context, competency in the ecological determinants of health is crucial as they are increasingly being recognized as foundational for human and planetary health. We are seeking funding to bring together a group of scholars who will organize around the task of developing a robust funding proposal to advance curriculum reform for public health in the Anthropocene, and in doing so also build collegial connections across the country and beyond, forge interdisciplinary and inter-institutional relationships, share a range of perspectives, experiences, opportunities, map the existing landscape of ideas and initiatives, and experiment with novel approaches to collaborative research, while also working to explore how best to collaborate, consult and amplify BIPOC perspectives, engage with key thought leaders in Canada and beyond, include and elevate student voices/concerns/contributions, and ensure the work remains relevant to the exigencies of frontline public health practice (now and into the future)