Public Health, Cities, & the Climate Crisis

1 Course Unit

Climate change has been called the most pressing public health crisis of the 21st century. The impact of climate change can be seen directly, through elevated temperatures that exacerbate chronic disease to an increase in severe storms that dramatically increase the risk of injury. But there are also indirect effects, from the increase in vector-borne diseases to the disruption of food production. These health impacts are not felt equally, with a greater brunt on disadvantaged, vulnerable, and/ or marginalized populations. Given the current state, we need to think about climate mitigation and climate adaptation, with an eye towards strategies that address health impacts. We must consider how to reduce further climate change while recognizing that some change is already irreversible and in doing so, improve our ability to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The breadth of this issue will require collaboration from diverse sets of professionals who understand design, engineering, policy, and health. This course will tackle the intersectional issues that climate change requires us to consider for public health and the design of cities. As such, the course will be offered jointly between the MPH program and the School of Design. The course will be purposefully interdisciplinary, recognizing that initial group projects must include developing a shared vocabulary between the different students. Key to our success is a more holistic integration of climate change thinking into professional student training and a common ground on which to collaborate both to raise climate change risk awareness across disciplines and to identify strategies (policies, programs, projects) to ameliorate or adapt to those risks with health outcomes used as the benchmark for success. In this way, the course touches on both Climate Action and Societal Resilience. The geographic focus of the course will be the Urban environment, with a strong focus on Philadelphia through projects related to the Hazard Mitigation Plan from the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Spring Prerequisite: PUBH 5060 1 Course Unit