About CASCADES
CASCADES empowers the implementation of sustainable healthcare practices and policies in Canada.
We leverage and strengthen capacity across the healthcare community.
Who we are
CASCADES is an initiative of four founding partners: the University of Toronto Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health & Sustainable Care, the Healthy Populations Institute at Dalhousie University, the Planetary Healthcare Lab at the University of British Columbia, and the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care. In Quebec, CASCADES is a partner in the Réseau d’action pour la santé durable du Québec.
We work with and learn from many other organizations and individuals across the country.
We are funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Our vision
Our vision is a pan-Canadian health system that supports a healthy planet, is caring and equitable, and serves communities so that they thrive.
Our work supports the Canadian healthcare community in making this vision a reality.
Our mission
The highest quality health system that is universal, equitable, appropriate,
person centred, integrated across sectors, timely
and effective.
A net-zero health system that removes climate-altering greenhouse gases
from health products,
services, infrastructure,
and supply chains.
A health system
capable of adapting to
climate shocks and stresses through proactive and positive improvements.
A health system that
minimizes negative
impacts on the
environment and leverages opportunities to restore and improve it, contributing
to healthier ecosystems
and communities.
Our values
We value rigour. CASCADES’ work is scientific, and evidence informed.
We value quality. CASCADES’ work is aligned with the core principles of quality care (safe, effective, efficient, patient-centered, timely and equitable).
We value collaboration. CASCADES’ work is interdisciplinary, equitable and relational.
Our work
Across Canada, teams are testing and refining evidence-informed change ideas. We work alongside these innovators to equip and empower a broader community of early adopters. We also work with partners across Canada to embed validated change ideas within health system guidance, policy, regulation, and institutional structures.
Resources to fill the implementation gap.
We leverage community expertise to build robust implementation resources.
Training to strengthen the capacity for change.
We deliver training through a range of courses and events.
Collaboration to foster pan-Canadian coordination.
We work with interested parties across the country with a view to pan-Canadian exchange and coordination.
We focus on 10 priority action areas where there is clear evidence and experience to justify decisive movement forward. This includes shifts in care pathways as well as critical enablers of system change.
For each priority action, we generate a mix of robust resources, work to strengthen capacity, and build pan-Canadian networks for exchange and coordination.
Care pathways
Key actions can minimize the environmental harms of medications throughout their lifecycle and address increased medication-related risks due to climate change.
Many opportunities exist to address the resource intensity of perioperative care while ensuring and promoting high quality care.
Comprehensive person-centered primary and community care can support health and wellbeing and reduce the need for more resource intensive services.
Practitioners across specialties can take meaningful steps to reduce the environmental impacts of their practice and safeguard patient and population health.
Health services can promote health, including by delivering healthy food, effective chronic disease management, and climate-adapted clinical care.
System enablers
Sustainability is intrinsically linked with both quality care and patient safety and can be embedded within these efforts.
Leadership and good governance are needed to develop and deliver effective climate and sustainability strategy.
The shift to climate resilient and sustainable health systems requires accurate assessment of healthcare’s environmental impacts.
Health systems can leverage their purchasing power to influence vendors and shape markets for sustainable and resilient health sector products and services.
Healthy food, digital innovation and effective waste management are among the key enablers of low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient health systems.
Key collaborations
Canadian College of Health Leaders
The Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) and CASCADES are partnering to offer health leaders in Canada a new avenue to leverage, build knowledge, skills and networks across Canada’s healthcare community to promote and deliver sustainable health systems.
Through the Health Leadership Specialty in Sustainable Health Systems, Canadian health leaders will undertake the Fundamentals of Sustainable Health Systems course and one of the advanced courses. Participants will apply their learning in their workplace and write a paper on the impact and experience of knowledge translation. The paper is reviewed by a panel of three CCHL Fellowship Evaluators, who may award the Health Leadership Specialty in Sustainable Health Systems.
HealthcareLCA
HealthcareLCA constitutes the first global living database of healthcare-related environmental impact assessments. The HealthcareLCA database is designed to support the transition to sustainable, low carbon health systems, providing an open-access, interactive, and up-to-date evidence resource for healthcare workers, sustainability researchers, and policy makers.
The collaboration between CASCADES and HealthcareLCA aims at supporting regular updates of the database and its availability as an open access resource.