scholarly journals Gardening in Ashes: The Possibilities and Limitations of Gardening to Support Indigenous Health and Well-Being in the Context of Wildfires and Colonialism

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3273
Author(s):  
Kelsey Timler ◽  
Dancing Water Sandy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Health And Well Being

In this paper, we will discuss gardening as a relationship with nature and an ongoing process to support Indigenous health and well-being in the context of the climate crisis and increasingly widespread forest fires. We will explore the concept of gardening as both a Euro-Western agriculture practice and as a longstanding Indigenous practice—wherein naturally occurring gardens are tended in relationship and related to a wider engagement with the natural world — and the influences of colonialism and climate change on both. Drawing on our experiences as an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper (Dancing Water) and a non-Indigenous community-based researcher (Kelsey), our dialogue will outline ways to support health and well-being through land-based activities that connect with Indigenous traditions in ways that draw on relationships to confront colonialism and the influences of climate change. This dialogue is founded on our experiences in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada, one of the areas hit hardest by the 2017 wildfires. We will explore the possibilities and limitations of gardening and the wider concept of reciprocity and relationship as a means to support food security, food sovereignty, and health for Indigenous Peoples.

scholarly journals Climate change and Indigenous Health Promotion

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhys Jones
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Climate change poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples around the world. Despite living in diverse contexts, Indigenous peoples face a number of common challenges. Disproportionate threats from climate change exist due to a range of factors including unique relationships with the natural environment, socioeconomic deprivation, a greater existing burden of disease, poorer access to and quality of health care, and political marginalization. Responses to climate change at global, national, and local levels also threaten Indigenous people’s rights. While climate action presents many opportunities to improve health and reduce inequities, there is also significant potential for climate mitigation and adaptation policies to inflict harm on Indigenous peoples. An important aspect of this is the impact on traditional lands, which are acknowledged as a fundamental determinant of Indigenous health and well-being. This article seeks to elucidate the relationships between climate change and Indigenous health and to inform health promotion solutions to achieve climate justice for Indigenous peoples. The underpinning analysis is founded on a Kaupapa Māori positioning, which seeks transformative change and involves critiquing Western knowledges and structures that undermine Indigenous rights. A central theme is that anthropogenic climate change is intimately connected to the ideologies, systems and practices of colonialism, and that the impacts on Indigenous peoples can be conceptualized as an intensification of the process of colonization. It is not possible to understand and address climate-related health impacts for Indigenous peoples without examining this broader context of colonial oppression, marginalization and dispossession. The challenge for health promotion is to engage in a process of decolonization. This involves deconstructing its own systems and practices to avoid reinforcing colonialism and perpetuating inequities. It also requires health promotion practitioners to support Indigenous self-determination and recognize Indigenous knowledges as a critical foundation for climate change and health solutions.

Lessons from the pandemic: climate change and COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Heath Cooper ◽  
Joane Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Health And Well Being

PurposeThis article examines US official and public responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for insights into future policy and pubic responses to global climate change.Design/methodology/approachThis article compares two contemporary global threats to human health and well-being: the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. We identify several similarities and differences between the two environmental phenomena and explore their implications for public and policy responses to future climate-related disasters and disruptions.FindingsOur review of research on environmental and public health crises reveals that though these two crises appear quite distinct, some useful comparisons can be made. We analyze several features of the pandemic for their implications for possible future responses to global climate change: elasticity of public responses to crises; recognition of environmental, health, racial, and social injustice; demand for effective governance; and resilience of the natural world.Originality/valueThis paper examines public and policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic for their implications for mitigating and adapting to future climate crises.

scholarly journals Authors’ Response to Peer Reviews of “A Local Community-Based Social Network for Mental Health and Well-being (Quokka): Exploratory Feasibility Study” (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Shih ◽  
Ruhi Pudipeddi ◽  
Arany Uthayakumar ◽  
Peter Washington
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Peer Reviews ◽  
Health And Well Being

UNSTRUCTURED These are authors' responses to peer review of ms#24972.

scholarly journals High mountain community in a changing climate: a study of agropastoral adaptation in mustang district, Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-70
Author(s):  
Prakash Upadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Community Capacity ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Mountain Community

This paper explores the changing climate, its impact, and the diversified practices of agropastoral adaption by a mountain community of Nepal. The findings reveal that there is an unswerving link between the changes in climate and their impact on the community and its adaptation options. The vulnerability and risk induced by the climate change has threatened the agropastoral subsistence, the sociocultural and economic structure, and the food sovereignty of the Loba community of Mustang district of Nepal and made them experience unanticipated complications in livelihood. In a changing climate, the community has attuned and restructured its adaptive strategy with diversified practices of collective labour in a traditional agropastoral system of landholding, mystical connectivity and seasonal relocation as an adaptive response ensuring the shared sustenance of the com munity. The challenge of climate change began long ago; it will persevere and be long- lasting. Hence, this paper argues for the need for a prudent adoption of measures to maintain an environmentally suitable agropastoral system of liveli hood well-being. Beyond enhancing community capacity and climate resilience, it is necessary to streamline and readjust indigenous sociocultural institutions by expanding their adaptive capacity, while recognizing the cultural dimensions grounded in systems of meanings and relationships and the way people and their culture experience and respond to exceptional climatic changes.

Health and natural landscapes: concepts and applications

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Natural Landscapes ◽  
The Many ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This book contains 8 chapters that discuss and explore these positive outcomes by delving into how humans perceive and respond to the natural world. It also looks at the different stages of human development and how societal perspectives regarding natural landscapes have changed over time. These perspectives influence our responses to current issues such as climate change and pandemics. Examining our worldviews is critical to developing a deeper understanding of human beliefs and relationships with natural landscapes. Moreover, empirically based theories and models can be useful in enhancing that understanding, but other realities are also important such as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and a rekindling of a sense of connection with nature. Whether empirically derived in recent decades or handed down through the generations, this knowledge can be useful as we consider the many forms of human well-being, including physical, mental, spiritual, and social.

The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Health, and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Kristine Klussman ◽  
Julia Langer ◽  
Austin Lee Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract. Background: Most people are comfortable asserting the beneficial effects of physical exercise on mental health and well-being. However, little research has examined how different types of physical activity affect these outcomes. Aims: The current study sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of the differential relationships between different types of physical activity and various aspects of health and well-being. In addition, we sought to understand the role of self-connection in these relationships. Method: One hundred forty-three participants completed a questionnaire designed to measure their current weekly activity as well as their current health and well-being. Specifically, we examined three intensities of activity (walking, moderate, and vigorous) and three types of activity (team-based, community-based, and not team nor community-based) on self-reported health, anxiety, depression, affect, flourishing, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. In addition, we examined self-connection as a possible moderator of these relationships. Results: Results suggested that physical activity was inconsistently related to health and well-being, and activity intensity and type were important to understanding these relationships. In contrast, self-connection reliably related to health and well-being and moderated the relationship between activity type and the presence of meaning. Limitations: The cross-sectional, self-report nature of the study limits its contribution. In addition, we only examined a subset of all physical activities that people engage in. Conclusion: In all, results suggest that the relationships between physical activity, mental health, and well-being are tenuous, at best. Future research needs to examine these relationships further and continue to examine self-connection to determine how to best increase health and well-being through physical activity.

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