Restoring Planetary Health Through Partnerism

The continuation of life as we know it is currently threatened by human-caused disruptions to the Earth’s natural systems. Modern behaviors and attitudes orienting toward domination contribute to extraction, exploitation, and thoughtless disregard for the needs of future generations. The planetary health paradigm weaves together ancient Indigenous knowledge systems, traditional wisdom, and modern science. Planetary Health is a transdisciplinary field and a social movement that addresses human disruptions of Earth’s natural systems and the impact these disruptions have on human health and on all life on the planet. Planetary Health calls for global cultural transformation, a “Great Transition” that will require rapid structural changes across all human institutions. The scale and urgency of change that is necessary will call for a paradigm and set of values to guide thought and action. Partnerism is an alternative narrative to domination, and its emphasis on linking rather than ranking offers the essential thinking and economic model to drive massive cultural transformation around the world. This paper concludes with a vision for a future where planetary health and partnerism thrive.