One of the greatest opportunities for the health promotion profession is addressing the economic, environmental, and social determinants of health at the source: by creating healthy living and workspaces. These gains, in turn, would have a positive and measurable effect on the health of the local community, making sustainability-focused businesses even greater stewards of population health. While most businesses understand and recognize the importance of promoting and protecting the health and safety of their employees and environmental practices for a healthy planet, few have taken steps to align business priorities with ESG goals. It can be tough to make workable connections between employee well-being, sustainability goals and the day-to-day challenges of doing business. But through unique lens of the intersectionality of the health of our natural environment with the health of human environments, four organizations are elevating the importance of this connection through conversations, collaboration and commitment to a thriving, sustainable future. This panel discussion will demonstrate how each of these unique organizations and programs are individually and collectively leading South Carolina through unprecedented changes in human and natural communities, creating a robust cross-boundary stakeholder network of state leaders with the knowledge, skills, and desire to collaborate and support each other in identifying pathways, and executing solutions for a sustainable, health-promoting future for all.
Learning Objectives
After completing this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify benefits and challenges of integrating health and environmental strategies, and what it looks like for a company to integrate health and environmental strategies.
2. Recognize leadership attributes of companies that are making the connection between health and the environment.
3. Describe the importance of collaboration and how practitioners can be effective participants in and organizers of collaborations designed to help companies create both a healthier planet and healthier people.