Prioritising future research funding on planetary health

Human hands holding a plant in a plant pot, The pot is wrapped in an image of the Earth

NERC, on behalf of UKRI, are seeking input to help our understanding of the emerging research priorities in planetary health.

Disruptions to Earth’s natural systems, caused by human activity, can have a detrimental impact on our health.

Climate change, urbanisation, pollution, and changes to food systems can affect nutrition, mental health and potentially increase the risks from non-communicable and infectious disease.

Interdisciplinary response

The challenges of planetary health research require an interdisciplinary response.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed to catalysing interdisciplinary approaches to tackling national and global challenges.

This is why we’re working across our councils to better understand how best to support the growing UK planetary health research community.

Cross-sector workshop

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) led a cross-sector workshop earlier this year to discuss:

  • what planetary health research themes should be tackled
  • the UK strengths
  • where can UKRI add value.

The key recommendations from this workshop can be found in the ‘UKRI planetary health workshop report’.

Views from the community

We now seek to gain views from the wider community, including:

  • views about the report
  • suggestions to develop our thinking around the type and level of investment needed
  • insight on the current knowledge gaps or understudied areas.

If you’d like to submit your thoughts, please complete our short survey by 30 September 2022.

Top image:  Credit: denphumi, iStock, Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

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