Welcome to Module 2, of course 5, Planetary Health and Social Determinants of Health. My name is Dr Teddie Potter, and I'm clinical professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota, where I coordinate the doctor of nursing practice, and health innovation, and leadership. And, I'm Director of Planetary Health. And it is my pleasure to introduce you to the emerging field of planetary health. In the previous module we discussed the planetary health is an emerging science, emerging discipline. But it's also a paradigm, a worldview, a set of values, and a set of ethics, that lead us into a new relationship with the entire Earth's ecosystem. It is also an area of practice, so it's a movement. In this particular module, we are going to be talking about the planetary health values, as a source of knowledge. How do we learn more about planetary health? How is it a science? How if one want to know more about science, and the emerging discipline, where do we go? How do we develop knowledge in this area? The objectives of this course include examining data related to exceeding planetary boundaries. Describing human caused disruptions of the Earth's natural systems and how they impact human health. Discussing planetary health values, and how these values helped drive the discipline. And describing the sources of knowledge, including planetary health science, and indigenous ways of knowing. Let's take a look at our image, or our model that we've been using through this entire course or program. We start with a systems thinking, filter it through data, and move into action. Planetary health as I previously mentioned, is one of the foundational aspects of environmental and social determinants of health. We after all cannot have healthy humans, healthy communities, without a healthy planet. We can't survive on this planet. There isn't much need to argue about how we live with the choices we make, it is too late. So planetary health is absolutely key for the survival of human beings. It is therefore, with the number one step of the model. But as we start moving into its foundational framework, we look at data. And this particular module, focuses on planetary health data. In preparation for part one, I'd like you to read the article, The Nine Planetary Boundaries, produced by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. In addition, if you have time, I would like you to read, The 2019 Report of the Lancet Countdown. Every year, the Lancet does a countdown, which reflects the current status of human health and climate change. And this particular report was called, Ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate.
