Health promotion, environmental psychology and sustainable development — a successful “ménage-à-trois”

Abstract

Our society is facing a crisis with escalating mental health disorders, long-term sick leaves and a health care system not provided with the appropriate healing tools. Combined with the global environmental degradation this could be a very depressive scenario. I suggest a new and dynamic thinking in order to create a more positive atmosphere, both literally and conceptually, into which diverse disciplines work together to reach a mutual goal — global health and environmental justice. It is time to accept that science cannot be dispensed from the dynamics of living, culture and nature, but on the contrary those belong together. Only by working with this premise as a point of departure, can former criteria and old traditions in science be challenged and subsequently ameliorated. (Global Health Promotion, 2009; 16 (1): pp. 49—52)