Guides & Frameworks - Planetary Health Education

Swiss Planetary Health Curriculum

Developed by the Swiss Planetary Health Education Network (PHUSE), the Planetary Health Core Curriculum for Health Students in Switzerland provides a national competency-based framework to support the integration of Planetary Health education into health professions programs across Switzerland.

The curriculum was formally endorsed by the Swiss Health Conference and the Joint Commission of the Swiss Medical Schools for 11 health professions: human medicine, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, nutrition and dietetics, health promotion and prevention, osteopathy, occupational therapy, biomedical laboratory diagnostics, optometry, and medical-technical radiology.

Planetary Health Curriculum Guidelines

Following in the footsteps of the Planetary Health Roadmap and Action Plan, the Planetary Health Alliance’s (PHA) Education Curriculum Committee convened between November 2024 and September 2025 to create a curriculum aligned with the Roadmap’s Guidance on Engaging the Education Sector in Revolutionizing Approaches to Education. Our goal was to design guidance for universal, inclusive, and value-centered Planetary Health curriculum that reflects the urgent need for transformational education across the lifespan.

Explore the Planetary Health Curriculum Guidelines

Embedding Planetary Health Across Curriculum

The foundational Planetary Health Education Framework is already driving real-world curriculum transformation. As one example, at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, faculty have systematically mapped the Framework’s domains to nursing competencies and developed specific learning outcomes, demonstrating its practical implementation in professional education. Their implementation demonstrates how the Framework can be adapted to specific disciplines and within existing academic standards while maintaining its core principles. By weaving in Planetary Health, UMN shows how institutions can prepare healthcare professionals to address the Earth crisis. We hope this evidence-based example inspires you to implement the Framework within your own educational context, joining a growing global movement to transform education for Planetary Health.

University of Minnesota Nursing School Approach

The University of Minnesota has integrated Planetary Health concepts throughout the curricula of its School of Nursing.

“The integration of concepts within the competencies and sub-competencies is essential for the application throughout the educational experience… These concepts truly are interrelated and interwoven within the domains and competencies, serving as a foundation to students’ learning.”

(AACN, 2021, p. 12).

Planetary Health Education includes five key threads:

Interconnection within Nature
The Anthropocene and Health (human-caused disruption of Earth’s natural systems)
Systems Thinking / Complexity-based Approaches in Planetary Health
Equity and Social Justice
Movement Building and Systems Change

Professional nurses consider the impact that healthcare delivery has on future generations and work to ensure that all nursing research, education, advocacy/policy, and practice support a sustainable planet. Watch the video to learn more!

A Pathway for Introducing Planetary Health

Foundational Documents

Other Guides & Frameworks

Planetary Health Learning Objectives for Global Health Education The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) convened a working group to develop a set of planetary health learning objectives (PHLOs) that would complement the existing ten CUGH global health learning objectives.	Patient and Clinic Through the Lens of Planetary Health: Learning Guide for Undergraduate Health Education This teaching strategy to integrate Planetary Health into the curriculum for undergraduate health students that aims to equip students with the ability to view both patients and clinical practices through a Planetary Health lens, supported by easily accessible study references. Available in both English and Portuguese.
Education for Sustainable Healthcare This is an innovative Planetary Health and Sustainable Healthcare curriculum. It is adaptable for all countries, all health professions and all educational stages.	National Planetary Health Learning Objectives for Germany: A Steppingstone for Medical Education to Promote Transformative Change This publication introduces a set of national Planetary Health learning objectives designed to integrate Planetary Health Education into Germany's medical curricula.
Cross-Cutting Principles for Planetary Health Education The article outlines 12 cross-cutting principles established by the Planetary Health Alliance to guide Planetary Health Education. They encourage a comprehensive understanding of Planetary Health challenges, policy orientation, communication skills, and the necessity for transdisciplinary collaboration.	Climate Action Guide for Nurses This straightforward resource helps nurses explore practical ways to reduce their carbon footprint through changes in their practice.
Planetary Health: A Guide for Educational Implementation in University Healthcare Programs This guide provides faculty members with a comprehensive approach to incorporating Planetary Health Education into their curricula. Although specifically designed for the Dutch university system, the principles may be adaptable to other contexts. Document is not available in English.