Planetary Health

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The University of Glasgow recognises that planetary health research must go well beyond reducing greenhouse-gas emissions – it must address the intertwined systems of human health, ecosystem integrity and societal justice. Building on its major research Beacons, such as One Health and Adressing Inequalities, the University is committed to integrative approaches that link the health of people, animals, environment and place.

Research alliances across Scotland – for example the Scottish Alliance for Food (SCAF) and the One Health Breakthrough Partnership (OHBP) – illustrate the scale and urgency of these inter-linked issues: food-water-health-ecosystem systems.

Glasgow is an ideal environment for planetary health research: a city-region with industrial legacies, complex rivers and water systems, health and socioeconomic inequalities, urban and peri-urban green-space challenges, and academic capacity spanning engineering, environmental science, data science and public policy.

At the University of Glasgow, a broad spectrum of research is applied to planetary health outcomes. For example:

• Environment & Ecosystems: Investigations into how pollutants and changing landscapes influence pathogen dynamics, biodiversity, water and soil systems, and human/animal health.
• Contaminants, Resource Cycles & Food/Water Systems: Research into wastewater and its by-products, the fate of pharmaceuticals and emerging contaminants, circular resources, sustainable chemicals and the interplay between food, water and ecosystem health.
• Digital, Systems & Health Solutions: Employing AI, digital twins, agent-based simulation, and urban “living-lab” deployments (with Glasgow as a test-bed) to transform descriptive science into predictive intervention.
• Food Systems, Equity & Resilience: Through networks such as SCAF, exploring how food production, culture, waste, water, health and environment intersect – ensuring that sustainability is just and inclusive.

Our supervisors have experience working across traditional boundaries – engineering and natural sciences, health sciences and social sciences, community engagement and policy – to ensure that innovation is aligned with resource efficiency, long-term welfare and intergenerational justice.

The University of Glasgow offers a unique setting where strategic vision, interdisciplinary strength, and place-based complexity converge – enabling planetary health research that connects contaminants, food-water-health systems, urban ecosystems and equity.

Related Areas: One Health, Sustainability, Climate Change, Contaminants, Wastewater, Food Systems, Environmental Justice, Digital and Systems Research.