Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Generations alive today are the first with incontrovertible proof of their impact on planetary processes and systems. The pace and scale of change denies any real possibility of delivering health, wellbeing, health care or anything approaching equity in these domains in the medium to longer term without fundamental change. Building health and wellbeing henceforth on ecological principles demands a recognition of human social complexity in the determinants of health, but also the interconnectivity and interdependence of human beings and the natural world. The term ‘ecological public health’ encapsulates the required response. There is undeniable convergence between the aspirations of ecological public health and the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals. Progress in each requires decision makers to navigate within complexity but also overcome professional, disciplinary, and policy silos. Only in this way, can we identify and deliver effective policy solutions at national and subnational level. The European Union funded INHERIT project, emphasises the benefits of a common analytical framework to frame complex issues in ways that point to solutions. INHERIT seeks to identify policies which can deliver the “triple win” of health and wellbeing, equity, and environmental sustainability in the areas of living, moving, and consuming. It also recognises transformative change must be gained through a better understanding of human lifestyles, behaviour, and their determinants. The paper outlines INHERIT’s conceptual underpinnings and how it seeks to exploit insights of strategic environmental health in combination with knowledge from behavioural science.