Looking Back: BOLD Climate Action's Webinar Series

BOLD Climate Action were very honoured to partner with Irish Doctors for the Environment (IDE) and Friends of the Earth on a series of six webinars under the umbrella heading of “Healthy Ageing, Healthy Planet”.

The aim of these webinars was to explore the links between our personal health needs as older people and the challenges that face the environment. We sought to share the specialist knowledge of health care professionals whose dedication to supporting climate and environmental issues matches their commitment to the health of their patients. We aimed to draw attention to the sweet spots where those actions we take to care for our own health are also actions which support the needs of our ailing planet.

Our first webinar in January was presented by psychogeriatrician Dr Caoimhe Clarke and was entitled “Active Travel- the Magic Pill?”. Dr Clarke is a member of the Climate Health Alliance report group who published a position paper with the same title as the webinar. Drawing on source material from the paper, Dr Clarke showed in a lively and engaging way how physical activity that is embedded in our daily lives at any age and any level will bring benefits in so many ways to physical and mental health.

These benefits can be especially relevant to the older person, for whom loss of mobility and social isolation can impact greatly. Active travel is understood in its widest context as including public transport as this brings opportunity for exercise and interaction with others that private car use does not. The greater benefits of environmental improvement and a healthier populace that Active Travel brings to our society need to be stressed to those holding the keys to travel decisions made on our behalf. 

Watch back the recording

Presentation slides  

Harvested feedback from breakout groups

Active Travel - The Magic Pill report

In March, physiotherapist Orlagh Gaynor gave the inspiring talk “Connect With Nature, Care For Yourself” on the health-positive ways that escaping from our urbanised and digitised surrounds into nature lead to surprisingly significant benefits. She stressed how increased engagement with nature can be recommended as a form of social prescription bringing holistic healing and greater connection to our planet.

Watch back the recording  

Presentation slides 

Further reading: Shinrin-Yoku ‘The medicine of being in the forest’

In our next presentation, Dr Jennifer Hayes presented a deep dive into the world of plastics in the webinar “Microplastics: They’re Everywhere – Is This A Problem?”. The answer unfortunately seems to be an emphatic yes. Jennifer showed our modern world is entirely interconnected with plastics through their production, use and disposal, and how this leads to sobering individual health and environmental impacts.

We were left to reflect that while there are areas in personal and planetary health where individuals and action groups can drive change, there are other situations where bigger forces wield huge influence which can be difficult to challenge at human scale. However, knowledge is power and expanding the reach of that knowledge begins the process of taking back control. 

Watch back the recording

Presentation slides

The fourth webinar in our series was “The Air That We Breathe”. Dr Sandra Greene looked at the effects of air quality on our health. These were shown as beginning in the womb and extending through all of life and to every part of our bodies. Although in our modern world we have largely moved away from burning solid fossil fuels and the risks that these pose, new environmental hazards have arisen, for example vehicular pollutants. To combat these, Dr Greene stressed the value of Active Travel in minimising air borne particulates to the benefit of us all. She encouraged activism at community level and seeking to ensure that politicians understand Air Quality is a hot button topic.

Presentation slides  

With “Dental Health is Whole Health”, Dr David McReynolds showed that his doctorate studies on ageing prove the benefits of a pro- active approach to long term health in the older person with the analogy that “the best time to plant a tree was in the past, but the next best time is now”. The evidence that poor dental health and tooth loss are linked to diminished general health is compelling. Rod Crichton, BOLD member and ex- general dentist, then explored health and environmental impacts of dental materials and followed through on the social injustices baked into Irish state dental care.

Watch the Recording back

Presentation slides

Our final webinar of the series was “Sustainable Diets: For You, For the Planet”, which was again presented by Orlagh Gaynor from a presentation developed in the main by Dr Orlaith Casey, gastroenterological registrar. Some of the takeaways from this webinar were that diet quality and sustainability overlap; that it’s not just what we eat but how it’s produced. The environmental and human health benefits of adopting a diet with substantially less meat and dairy and more plant based foods were proposed. In addition, choosing to consume foods that have been sourced locally and/or seasonally can improve planetary resilience. 

Watch the recording back

Presentation slides 

Some of Orlagh’s closing “takeaways” could also be seen as general mottoes for how we can take personal actions that help both Our Health and Our Planet, namely:

Perfection is impossible

Flexibility is key

Small changes matter at scale.

In addition to hosting a varied selection of speakers, the webinars gave ample opportunity for participants to join in breakout room discussions, share their reflections and feedback, connect with other like minded people and engage in dialogue on issues that affect their lives and our planet. This opened up the topics and enabled particular focus on areas of concern to those who joined.

Taken together, these webinars highlight the interconnected nature of many health challenges, as well as the ways in which they can be addressed. Crucially, it is essential that we come together to act and make demands of our politicians and of those who provide the materials and services that our world uses. We must let them know that older people are not just passive consumers of what they may try to foist on us, but actively empowered citizens seeking better personal health, a thriving planet and a just society.    

Guest blog by Rod Crichton, BOLD Climate Action member

*

Funding Acknowledgement: This BOLD Climate Action 'Healthy Ageing/ Healthy Planet' webinar series is part of a wider Global Citizenship Education project funded by Irish Aid, supported by Friends of the Earth.