Regional Eco-Cultural Health

Forthcoming Book: Examining the ecological and cultural history of various regions of the world through the lens of ecocultural health. The impacts on human wellbeing as ecocultural systems degrade.

Invited Presentations:

• Master class (with Luisa Maffi) to visiting students, Redfish School of Change, Salt Spring Island, BC.
• Eco-cultural Health of Salt Spring Island. (with Luisa Maffi), Explorers Club Informal Meeting, Burnaby, BC.
• Beyond Economics vs. Environment: Ecosystem Health Approaches to Sustainability. Keynote talk to incoming class on Sustainability and Environment, Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC.

Commissioned Articles and Presentations on Ecocultural health

• Freshwater Priorities: Where we are, where we’re heading. Invited presentation, POLIS Webinar “Creating a Blue Dialogue”, a pre-conference event in conjunction with Canadian watershed managers conference “Watersheds 2014: Toward Watershed Governance in British Columbia and Beyond”, Duncan, BC.
• Reflections on Ecosystem Health. Guest lecture (via Skype), Graduate Seminar in Ecosystem Health, Western University, London, Ontario.
• Aquatic Ecosystem Health. Invited presentation, POLIS Water Symposium, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.
• Expanding the Concept of Health: From Humans to Ecosystems to Eco-cultural Systems. Invited presentation (with Luisa Maffi), Metro Vancouver Noon Lecture Series, Burnaby, BC.
• Managing for Healthy Watersheds: What Does It Take, Really? Keynote talk (with Luisa Maffi), Public Meeting of the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable, Coquitlam, BC.
• Ecosystem Health. Review article, in Achieving Sustainability: Visions, Principles and Practices, ed. by D. Rowe, pp. 251-260. Macmillan.

Featured Lectures on Ecocultural health

• Overview of Ecosystem Health. Guest lecture (via Skype), Graduate Seminar in Ecosystem Health, Western University, London, Ontario.
• Aquatic Ecosystem Health. Invited presentation, POLIS Water Symposium, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.
• Eco-cultural Health in the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. Invited presentation (with Luisa Maffi), The Explorers Club, Salt Spring Symposium, Salt Spring Island, BC.

Featured Lectures and Commissioned Articles

• Ecocultural Health for a Sustainable Future. Keith Roby Memorial Lecture, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.
• Ecosystem Health Indicators. Encyclopaedia article (with Mikael Hildén), in The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, Vol. 6, Measurements, Indicators, and Research Methods for Sustainability, eds. I. Spellerberg, D.S. Fogel, S.E. Fredericks, and L.M. Butler Harrington, pp. 103-107.

Urban Ecosystem Health
Client: Shenyang University

Project: Development of a framework and indicators for urban ecosystem health
EHC is providing a holistic and innovative framework by which to assess progress towards achieving sustainable healthy urban ecosystems. The focus is on Shenyang (NE China).

Ecosystem Health in relation to Pandemic Planning
Client: United Nations Development Programme and Government of Vietnam

Project:  International Consultancy on Ecosystem Health in relation to Pandemic Planning.
EHC provided the Government of Vietnam with advice re agricultural practices and ecosystem health in relation to risks of zoonotic diseases.

Eco-Cultural Health in the Sierra Madre (Chihuahua, Mexico)
Client: Terralingua (2004-2010)

Project: Establishing Eco-cultural health in Rarámuri communities in the Sierra Madre
This multi-year project was directed to implementing eco-cultural health approaches to subsistence agriculture and human health in small settlements in the Sierra Madre. The project involved development of a secure water supply, permaculture practices for sustainable forestry and backyard vegetable gardens, composting toilets and other measures to enhance hygiene and community health.

Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea
Client: Helsinki Commission

Project:  Review of the HELCOM Initial Holistic Assessment: “Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea”  
EHC provided a critical review of the draft document – which set forth an ecosystem health approach to assessing the state of the Baltic Sea.  This document incorporating EHC suggestion, was published by the Helsinki Commission, under the above title (2010).

Short course in Eco-cultural Health
Client: Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan

Project: Ecosystem Health and Human Pathogens.
EHC provided a week-long workshop/training session to senior scientists at the Institute on Ecosystem Health and its relevance to the spread of human pathogens.

Short course in Eco-cultural Health
Client: Institute for Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China)

Project: Short Course in Eco-Cultural Health
EHC provided an extended series of lectures on the topic of eco-cultural health for Institute faculty and graduate students.

Measuring Coral Reef Ecosystem Health
Client: The World Bank

Project: Framework and Indicators for Measuring the Health of the Mesoamerican Coral Reef
EHC developed an extensive framework for assessing ecosystem health of the Mesoamerican coral reef – the world’s second largest tropical coral reef system. The framework for indicators including the socio-economic, cultural, governance, and public health dimensions.  Earlier input from EHC helped to establish the ecological aspects.  The work was published as a World Bank Report “Measuring Coral Reef Ecosystem Health: Integrating Societal Dimensions”.

Avian Influenza and the Environment
Client: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

Project: Linkages between the Threat of Avian Flu Pandemic and the Environment: An EcoHealth Perspective.  
EHC provided an analysis of the relationship between degradation of the environment and global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza.  Report presented at UNEP headquarters (Nairobi). Published on the UNEP Web Site.