About our Exchange

We invite you to join us in Fall 2024 for a new Research and Knowledge Exchange dedicated to Climate Change and Health. If you are interested in participating, email Rochellebaker@mun.ca to be added to the list.

WHY THIS TOPIC? Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are well aware of the impacts of climate change, from Hurricane Fiona, to wildfires, to the loss of stable ice conditions along our coasts. We are concerned about how climate change affects our physical, mental, and community health. The health system itself is learning about its own climate change contributions and how it will need to adapt to climate change. We want to establish a forum where we can share research and knowledge, and learn about different perspectives and ways of knowing. We want to bring together health and social care workers from across professions, patients and caregivers, community organizations, health system partners, government partners, and researchers and learners from multiple disciplines.  We know we need to break down silos and collaborate. We need to better understand how we can mitigate the impacts of climate change on our health by building capacity for research and the exchange of knowledge. All voices are welcome.

CONVENERS |The group will be convened by Dr. Stephanie Atkinson of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter (CAPE-NL) and an orthopedic surgeon from Corner Brook, Yasamin Atabaki, a graduate student in Population Health and Applied Health Sciences at Memorial University, and my colleague Pablo Navarro from NLCAHR.

YOUR ROLE |As many of you may already know, participation in NLCAHR Research and Knowledge Exchanges is a low-pressure proposition.  You determine your own level of involvement based on your interest and availability.  Joining this group means that your email will be added to a membership listing and you will be invited to presentations and events. You will have regular opportunities to network with people who share your interest in this topic. You will be kept up-to-date about the activities of the group, which will be determined collaboratively by the co-conveners and by you, as a participant.

FIRST MEETING |September 20 2024 at 12:30PM - 2:00PM via Zoom. Contact rochellebaker@mun.ca to register. The agenda will include welcoming and introducing members and conveners, an overview of the program, a disucsson of goals and objectives and the style and frequency of future meetings for this new exchange.  It is important to note from the outset that we are not just about research, and we welcome all kinds of knowledge! We hope you will share your experiences to help develop aspects of knowledge exchange that are not strictly research based.  We welcome a variety of approaches based on community knowledge and lived experience.