Ecohealth
The Water Innovation Centre (WIC) will work on the theme of Ecohealth and Watersheds, based on collaborative work with Canadian academic partners, particularly the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health. This work is based on the integration of two emerging and non-exclusive natural resources management paradigms: (i) ecohealth, which states that human health and well-being are vital outcomes of effective ecosystem management, and (ii) watershed-based integrated water resources management (IWRM), which identifies watersheds/basins as appropriate units for managing ecosystems. The Ecohealth and Watersheds Project translates the Ecosystem Services Human Well-Being links put forth by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment into practical governance approaches.
Research has linked increases in water-borne, vector-borne and fecal-oral disease outbreaks with intense precipitation and flood events. Decreased watershed integrity also contributes to the risk of physical injuries, psychological illnesses and food insecurity caused by watershed-influenced events such as floods and droughts. Watershed- or basin-based ecosystem management can buffer such impacts and reduce public health risks. The public health benefits of healthy wetland complexes deserve particular attention. In 2008 the International Institute for Sustainable Development released a foundation paper entitled EcoHealth and Watersheds: Ecosystem Approaches to Re-integrate Water Resources Management with Health and Well-being (PDF – 884 KB), which examines the integration of ecohealth with water resources management. In 2012 a follow-up paper, Ecohealth and Watersheds: Watersheds as Settings for Health and Well-Being in Canada (PDF – 1.09 MB), engaged watershed groups from across Canada on the concept of ecohealth, finding a strong need and desire to increase communication and collaboration between the public health and watershed management fields.
The fundamental opportunity that WIC recognizes in the ecohealth approach is that preventive public health through ecosystem management may be a much more efficient allocation of scarce resources than standard health spending. WIC is very interested in developing this case and presenting it to public health practitioners.
