Mapping the Trajectory of Planetary Health Education—A Critical and Constructive Perspective from the Global South

Isaías Lescher Soto, Bernabé Vidal (), Lorenzo Verger and Gustavo J. Nagy
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Isaías Lescher Soto: Department of Sociology, University of Zulia, Maracaibo 4002, Zulia, Venezuela
Bernabé Vidal: Graduate Programme in Environmental Sciences, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IECA), Faculty of Sciences, University of the Republic (UdelaR), Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
Lorenzo Verger: Unit of Veterinary Public Health, University of the Republic (UdelaR), Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
Gustavo J. Nagy: Graduate Programme in Environmental Sciences, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IECA), Faculty of Sciences, University of the Republic (UdelaR), Montevideo 11400, Uruguay

Challenges, 2025, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-30

Abstract: The planetary health approach has gained traction in academic and international governance spheres; however, its limited integration into education systems has hindered its emergence as a universal framework for addressing the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution) and its impacts on individual well-being and global health systems. We mapped the evolution of the educational approach to planetary health between 2015 and 2025 from a critical and constructive perspective, using a bibliometric and thematic analysis. Through the bibliometric analysis, we found that publications from the Global North predominate, focusing on health programmes and topics such as climate change, One Health, Global Health and Public Health. The thematic analysis, based on inductive categorisation, allowed us to identify criticisms of the educational approach, such as its curricular marginalisation and limited scalability. From an epistemological perspective, these criticisms refer to technoscientific reductionism, the invisibility of non-Western epistemologies and the decoupling of cognition and environment. Given these limitations, we propose a reconstruction of the planetary health approach along three critical dimensions: Motivation, Legitimacy and Epistemology. This reconstruction is projected into short-, medium- and long-term scenarios at the university level, particularly as part of curriculum reform efforts, to broaden the pedagogical impact and promote a more inclusive and transformative vision.

Keywords: planetary health; education; university curriculum; critical theory; Global South (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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