Learning from Eco-social Approaches to Public Health
Alex is a Norse Gael and Pākeha public health physician and academic, living and working in Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. At Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago, she is responsible for teaching and curriculum development in ecosystem approaches to health, a research programme bringing those approaches to the intersection of urban planning, climate change and health equity, and community service that includes co-chairing a regional housing justice alliance. Much of her research is about identifying and changemaking for healthy, equitable policies that eliminate climate pollution and support community adaptation. Together with A/Prof Rhys Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland), she co-leads Climate Health Aotearoa, a national research centre practicing values, governance and strategic development aligned with those proposed by Māori for constitutional transformation. Connections with LEAPH include Indigenous knowledge-centred planetary health curriculum and workforce development. A mother of one now somewhat independent young person, she loves her garden, a cheesy rosemary potato pizza bianca, biking to work, knitting slow jumpers for family and friends, and disappearing into the forest for days looking for birds. Alex Macmillan.
This reflection draws on an international research collaboration exploring how Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are already creating openings for a planetary health approach in practice, and what is needed to support, strengthen, and sustain this shift.
