[Report] The 3rd Planetary Health Symposium with Dr Samuel Myers
We held the 3rd Planetary Health Symposium.
3rd Planetary Health Symposium
Crafting a Symbiotic Relationship between Humans and Earth: A Planetary Health Approach
On Saturday, November 9, 2024, a Planetary Health Symposium was held, co-hosted by the IDEC Institute of Hiroshima University and the Environmental Risk Sub-Committee of the Science Council of Japan.
This symposium invited Dr. Samuel Myers, the Founding Director of the Planetary Health Alliance and the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health, who is working to create a global planetary health framework, to discuss about the role of planetary health in protecting people’s health in a rapidly changing global environment, and how it is currently being addressed as a global framework.
Then, in the panel discussion, the three main activities of environmental policy, “nature positive,” “carbon neutral,” and “circular economy,” were discussed about people’s well-being and health. The panelists, all active in their respective fields, discussed the relationship between these three major activities and planetary health and how we can build a symbiotic relationship between humans and the Earth through a planetary health approach.
Cooperation and collaboration between fields is essential, but in order to do so, it is necessary to listen to the voices of people living in the community, discuss how past experience can be utilized, discuss how to align temporal and spatial scales, and discuss the need for leadership that can lead efforts across fields. The three areas discussed this time are pathways to achieve planetary health, and it was presented that it is possible to set a common goal of planetary health as a goal for these three. In response to this, Dr Myers commented on the need for everyone to be leaders and that in order to collaborate and cooperate, it is important for people from different fields to share their experiences, challenges, and solutions, as in this symposium, and to reflect them to society. He also commented on the importance of creating a place to think together and the importance of networks.
Protecting the rapidly changing health of our planet is directly connected to protecting our own health. We must face the global challenges that are unfolding before us and, as individuals living on this Earth, continue to consider how we can safeguard our health in conjunction with addressing these issues. To do so, it is essential not to focus solely on individual goals within each field or domain but rather to establish a shared objective—namely, crafting a symbiotic relationship between humans and earth that can protect the health and well-being of future generations. Although time constraints during this symposium limited the depth of discussion, it became a shared understanding that building such a symbiotic society requires the further sharing of knowledge and cross-disciplinary dialogue. Moreover, the importance of creating platforms and frameworks that enable these exchanges was widely acknowledged.
Overview
Date: November 9 (Sat), 2024 13:00-16:20
Venue: Hybrid (online and in-person)
Ryoun Lectures Building (1-2-1 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima)
Language: Japanese and English simultaneous interpretation
Organizer: The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, and Environmental Risk Committee of The Science Council of Japan
Co-organizer: Planetary Health Alliance Japan HUB
Program
Opening Remarks
Junko Tanaka, Executive Director and Vice President of Hiroshima University (Kasumi Area, Faculty Personnel and Public Relations)
Remarks from The Science Council of Japan
Keiko Nakamura, Chair of the Environmental Risk Sub-committee of The Science Council of Japan / Professor, Department of Global Health Entrepreneurship, Institute of Science Tokyo
Explanatory Introduction
Saori Kashima, Director of PHIS/Associate Professor, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University
Part1:
Keynote Speech
“Planetary Health: Protecting people’s health on a rapidly changing planet”
Samuel Myers
Founding Director of Planetary Health Alliance, Professor of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Director of Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health
(Moderator: Chiho Watanabe)
Educational Lectures
“The Perspective of Human Ecology and the Practice of Planetary Health in Japan”
Chiho WATANABE
Former Dean, Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Planetary Health, Nagasaki University
(Moderator: Keiko Nakamura)
Break
Part 2:
Panel Discussion
Moderator
Yoshihiro SAMBONGI, Professor, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University
Saori KASHIMA, Director of PHIS/Associate Professor, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University
Panelists
- Kanoko AKE, Policy CEO & Founder, Rooting Our Own Tomorrows / Japan Committee for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN-J) / Researcher, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
“For a planet that can be passed on to future generations: Responsibility for biodiversity and planetary health” - Toshihiko MASUI, Director, Social Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
“Initiatives and challenges towards realizing a decarbonized society” - Akimasa FUJIWARA, Professor, Center for the Planetary Health and Innovation Science (PHIS), The IDEC Institute / Vice Director, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University
“Healthy Ageing City Based on Smart Mobility Platform” - Maki UNO (PhD candidate) & Yousuke CHOMEI, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life Hiroshima University
“Local Food Circulation” - Masahiro HASHIZUME, Professor of Department of Global Health Policy Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
“Heat waves and air conditioning use: increasing energy demand and health adaptation challenges”
The detailed program can be available to see the Planetary Health Alliance Japan HUB
