Within the Canadian health sector, there is growing recognition of the impacts of climate change on health and health systems, and the many ways in which the health sector itself is contributing to climate change and other environmental problems. Emerging sustainability champions have been calling for change as they initiate climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation projects at all levels of the health system. As our collective understanding of the issues and opportunities related to climate change deepens, members of the healthcare community need support as they navigate the nuances of sustainability work.

The Planetary Health & Sustainable Care ECHO offers a collaborative space for people in the Canadian healthcare sector to discuss, troubleshoot, and celebrate efforts to provide climate resilient and responsible care across settings and specialties.

Learning objectives

Through weekly Zoom meetings, participants will be able to:

• Explain the relationship between climate change, health, and health systems
• Identify opportunities to integrate resilience and sustainability into their work
• Leverage lessons from the field to enhance their sustainability and resilience initiatives
• Gain insight into how their sustainability efforts connect with similar initiatives, and with the larger landscape of climate-resilient and sustainable healthcare
• Locate resources and support for implementing sustainability and resilience initiatives

Who it’s for

Interdisciplinarity is key to the successful planning and implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The ECHO is therefore open to all members of the Canadian healthcare community, including frontline care providers, trainees, QI and IT experts, managers, leaders, patient partners, and others.

How it works

Each session features a topic of interest grounded by experts in the field and brought to life by case studies shared by participants (to be arranged in advance); these can include: 

• The implementation of completed projects/efforts (can be successful or failed projects)
• Experiences from the “messy middle” of implementing change
• Contemplated changes in a particularly challenging area/topic for which advice/guidance is sought

An in-depth discussion of each case will yield recommendations for presenters where they are sought, and insights on and inspiration for sustainability efforts for all participants, which they can in turn share with their own networks to spread good sustainability practice.

Any resources discussed during a session will be shared via the ECHO website, where participants can also find discussion boards and summaries of cases and recommendations.

While participants are encouraged to attend every session to grow their network and better explore the nuances of sustainability implementation, the syllabus will be posted in advance to allow for attendance at sessions of interest. 

How to sign up

Please register via this link. If you’re working on or know of a relevant case, please note this in your registration form! We review all case suggestions and will contact you for further details if there is strong alignment with a session topic.

Upon registration, you’ll receive a calendar invitation to all the cycle sessions. We’d love to see you at every session but understand that that may not always be possible. The cycle schedule will be shared in advance so that you can prioritize the sessions most relevant to your scope of practice.