2018 Planetary Health Meeting
The 2018 Planetary Health Meeting took place in McEwan Hall Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 May and was attended by over 500 international delegates.
Acknowledging that the health of people and planet are inextricably entwined, the priority for the conference was to advance the science of planetary health from the global to the local scale. The event foregrounded threats facing both ecosystems and human health, and explored evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce these threats.
Guests were welcomed by Professor Liz Grant, our Principal Peter Mathieson and the Lord Provost Frank Ross along with Achim Steiner from the United Nations Development Programme followed by keynote addresses from University of Edinburgh Alumni Hannah Ritchie who presented 'Our World in Data'.
Building Futures exhibition
As part of the wider conference, our Department was represented by Dr Liz Vander Meer and Rachel Chisholm who brought three exhibitions to the hall. The 'Building Futures' exhibition showcased a fantastic collaborative living lab project between Liz Vander Meer and the ECA's MSc Advanced Sustainable Design programme with students providing in-depth design plans for repurposing one of the University of Edinburgh's existing buildings, considering sustainability, adaptation and future learning.
Planetary Health exhibition
The 'Planetary Health at University of Edinburgh' exhibition, curated by Liz and Rachel, acknowledged that the health of people and planet are inextricably linked and provided a University-wide response over a number of areas including teaching, research, policy, energy and climate and society.
Sustainability Heroes exhibition
The third exhibition 'SRS Superheroes' was designed by MSc Science Communication students to show the great work being done by our students and staff under the Sustainability Awards programme. All three exhibitions were well received by delegates who commented on how progressive and innovative the University is as an institution.
Find out more about the Sustainability Awards
Organisers and supporters
The conference was organised and hosted by Professor Liz Grant, Assistant Principal for Global Health at the University of Edinburgh, and Director of one of the University’s five Global Academies in collaboration with:
- The American Geophysical Union
- The Wellcome Trust
- The Lancet Countdown
- The Lancet Planetary Health
- International Development Research Centre
- Future Earth
- Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation
Read about how alumni are promoting the concept of planetary health