Ecological Health

Ecological models of health, similar to Indigenous models, situates health as a balanced interplay between Nature and individual with emphasis on human health acting reciprocally with planetary health (source 1, source 2, source 3). Taking an ecological approach to health necessitates the idea that the state of health is the result of a constant negotiation between the human and their environment.

The ecological framing of health provides an opportunity for a health justice argument. As our health is so intrinsically tied to the places we live, then it should be a human right to live without contamination and pollution. We can no longer blame people for their poor health or frame it as “genetic bad luck”, instead the structural and systemic pollution and contamination of our planet needs to be recognised as the core cause of our poor health.