Learning from Eco-social Approaches to Public Health
When I first helped bring the Ecohealth Global Summit (what many of us call the 'Earth Hug') to life in 2022 I had no idea how profoundly it would shape my learning, my connection to the global community, and my sense of hope in this work. What started as a small idea about creating more connected, caring spaces for ecological and equity-informed collaboration has now grown into an annual, international gathering that truly feels like a global community.
From the very beginning, my vision (co-developed with Dr. Margot Parkes (UNBC) and supported by Dr. Maya Gislason (SFU)) was to build something different - a space led by early career researchers (ECRs) where people from all over the world could come together across disciplines, sectors, and generations to nurture relationships and shared purpose. Today, I co-lead the Summit with an incredible team of seven ECRs from around the world - Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta, Evan Griffith, Christina Pettan-Brewer, Chester Kalinda, Galase Ramolefhe-Mutumwa, Jaypee Gonzales, and Chyna Yong. The events are guided by the theme “Working Together for a Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Future.”
What began as a 24-hour series of connected regional dialogues in2022, grew into an event covering 33 countries in 2023, and has since grown into a three-day, 28-hour event in 2025, bringing together 748 participants from 143 countries and 45 panelists. We’ve worked hard to ground every gathering in an ethic of care and love - for ourselves, for our more-than-human kin, and for our planetary community. That has meant intentionally moving away from formal presentation styles and instead centering storytelling, reflection, and shared humanity.
Here are some of the key principles and learnings that have emerged from the "Earth Hug":
Transdisciplinarity and Breaking Silos: I have seen firsthand how essential it is to move beyond rigid disciplinary boundaries. The Earth Hug celebrates complementarity and draws from Ecohealth, One Health, Planetary Health, Indigenous knowledge, and community wisdom without boxing people into disciplines, fields, or approaches. For me, it has been a powerful reminder that our strength lies in the spaces between disciplines.
Centering Values and Relationships: One of themost transformative practices has been starting from shared values. Regardlessof background or sector, naming what we care about and why has allowed us toconnect in deeper, more authentic ways. I have come to see that healing andefforts to promote health (of humans, animals, and environments) is relational.As one participant beautifully put it, “The future is something we buildtogether — with care, with humility, and with love.”
Working Locally, Thinking Globally: While the Summit is global in scope, we’ve always emphasized grounding our dialogues in local realities and partnerships. This means inviting Elders, youth, and local leaders to share their experiences and wisdom. Personally, this has taught me how much place-based knowledge shapes global learning.
Departing from Eurocentric Models: A critical learning has been the importance of departing from Eurocentric models of engagement, policy, practice, and research. The Summits highlighted the need to honor relationships and reciprocal connections, contrasting with approaches that often position environments and animals as resources to be managed. There has been a strong call for moving away from extractive, control-oriented frameworks and toward relational, reciprocal ways of knowing and doing. The Summits have reinforced the need for Indigenous, feminist, and artistic perspectives in reimagining what just and healthy systems look like.
Accessible Knowledge Sharing: We’ve worked to make the Earth Hug as inclusive and accessible as possible — offering live translation (i.e., so far in Spanish, Portuguese, and English), encouraging multilingual participation, and creating collaborative tools like Padlet and PolarSteps for story-sharing. We’ve also shared session recordings widely, which are now being used in classrooms across the world. Over time, I’ve learned how much accessibility and openness can dismantle hierarchies and invite deeper participation.
Here is a List of Links Related to Our Earth Hug
2025 :
2023:
2022:
Community Building Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecohealthecrs/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/earth-hug-collective
WhatsApp: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=948