* Stone, et al., "Cross-cutting principles for planetary health education," The Lancet s:192-3, May 2018.
12 Principles of Planetary Health
1. A Planetary Health Lens
Many problems can be better understood and addressed when they are set in a context which highlights the link between our stewardship of the earth and future population health.
2. Urgency and Scale
Problems concerning planetary health are urgent and gigantic, involving the interactions of geography, cultural context, politics, and socioeconomic factors.
3. Policy
We can best translate research on planetary health into context-specific policy and action both locally and globally by recognizing gaps in evidence and then investigating the impact of environmental change.
4. Organizing and Movement Building
Mobilizing communities and managing resources are important skills for building and sustaining movements that advocate for policy change.
5. Communication
Addressing problems concerning planetary health requires effective communication across disciplinary, geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries.
6. Systems Thinking
Solving problems of planetary health requires understanding the ecological and social systems in which they figure.
7. Equity
Our work must heed the demands of equity, because the most severe effects of environmental change on human health are felt by people in marginalized social positions.
8. Bias
Political, social, or economic dynamics may affect the presentation and perception of the health effects of environmental change, so we need to keep the biases and interests of different stakeholders in mind.
9. Governance
Governance structures must be examined to promote effective cooperation and maximize regional capacity to act on planetary health challenges.
10. Unintended Consequences
When facing surprising and unexpected consequences of environmental change on human health, mindsets that facilitate adaptation, sustainability and resiliency are essential.
11. Global Citizenship and Cultural Identity
We need to recognize our membership in both local and global communities and draw upon our unique cultural identities to take positive action locally and globally.
12. Historical and Current Global Values
Addressing planetary health challenges requires examining the historical circumstances in which they emerged and intentionally incorporating perspectives of those who have been marginalized to cooperate on solutions.