Introduction
ASRI and Health In Harmony’s core values include the interdependence of human and environmental health, respect, and capacity building, all of which are on display in the ASRI staff and culture. Conservation, healthcare, and general management staff all start their day together in an egalitarian morning meeting where everyone has the opportunity to share ideas and challenges. We know from practicing Radical Listening™ that effective solutions come when everyone has a voice and is heard, and we reflect this in daily interactions among staff, patients, and community members.
Planetary health solutions need to be implemented in various scales and indeed begin with small daily choices. In this concluding module, we will explore concrete ways we can apply planetary health principles according to the resources and expertise we might have in our own community. We will also introduce our sites in communities around Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (BBBR) in Central Kalimantan, around the Manombo Special Reserve in Madagascar, and in Terra do Meio in Brazil’s Xingu River Basin. At each of these sites, Radical Listening™ was conducted to understand community needs and concerns, and to acknowledge and implement their solutions.
Led by rainforest community-designed solutions, Health In Harmony and ASRI have a successful model of protecting crucial rainforest ecosystems and carbon sinks in a way that improves the lives of previously marginalized communities. We believe we have an imperative to replicate this success in more tropical rainforests and ultimately scale this approach around the world. The expansion to BBBR, Madagascar, and Brazil is crucial in implementing this Planetary Health model and also to understand the key elements of this success, ultimately preparing for scale and impacting millions of people and protecting critical rainforests.
Planetary Health Principles (Canmore Declaration):
Advocacy
Personal commitment to shaping new normative behaviors
Simply learning about planetary health is not enough — we must translate the knowledge learnt from this course into action. This means integrating planetary health principles into our daily lives and even advocating for this integration into our professions and education systems.
Learning Objective
Develop a plan for planetary health action and advocacy in your life, studies, and/or profession.
Learn about implementation of the Radical Listening™ Methodology at other sites (BBBR, Madagascar, and Brazil)