Exploring Australian health promotion and environmental sustainability initiatives

Issue addressed: Health promotion practitioners have important roles in applying ecosystem approaches to health and actively promoting environmental sustainability within community-level practice. The present study identified the nature and scope of health promotion activities across Australia that tackle environmental sustainability. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used, with 82 participants undertaking a quantitative survey and 11 undertaking a qualitative interview. Purposeful sampling strategies were used to recruit practitioners who were delivering community-level health promotion and sustainability programs in Australia. The data were analysed thematically and interpretation was guided by the principles of triangulation. Results: Study participants were at various stages of linking health promotion and environmental sustainability. Initiatives focused on healthy and sustainable food, active transport, energy efficiency, contact with nature and capacity building. Conclusion: Capacity building approaches were perceived as essential to strengthening this field of practice. Healthy and sustainable food and active transport were suitable platforms for simultaneously promoting community health and sustainability. There was potential for expansion of programs that emphasise contact with nature and energy issues, as well as interventions that emphasise systems thinking and interdisciplinary approaches. So what? It was promising that Australian health promotion programs have started to address complexity rather than single issues, as evidenced by explicit engagement with environmental sustainability. However, more effort is required to enable a shift towards ecosystem approaches to health.