From Curiosity to Leveraging Systems for Change

Last quarter, I had the opportunity to take SUSTAIN 103: Introduction to Human and Planetary Health. 

I’d become interested in planetary health through an Earth Systems survey course freshman year and since then, had spent time informally learning about the planetary health related research/work happening here. So, while I was excited about the more formal learning experience the course would provide, I went into it thinking I had a pretty good grasp on what planetary health is and on the planetary health work happening around campus. To my surprise, I left the course having discovered a multitude of new connections between the environment and human health and activities (did you know that brick kilns emit more carbon dioxide than all the cars in America do each year?). More significantly though, the course taught me about a new approach to thinking about planetary health (and other multidisciplinary challenges)—systems thinking. 

Introduction to Human and Planetary Health was structured in a unique way. Almost each class had a new speaker who presented on a specific topic within the planetary health umbrella. This allowed students to learn from a variety of experts, giving us diverse perspectives on one topic. For example, we heard about the  climate health connection from Kathy Burke who gave us an overview of the health impacts of extreme heat, Dr. Kekoa Taparra who talked about the mental and physical health impacts of the Lahaina wildfires on native Hawaiians, and Michael Wara, who talked about working with California communities to manage and reduce wildfires. We also learned about revitalizing parts of the natural world, from Thiago Piccolo who highlighted the profitability and sustainability of regenerating degraded pastures, and from Dr. Sibyl Diver, who focused on the cultural benefits of dam revitalization. 

In conjunction with the lectures, we had discussion sections that drew connections between the different speakers and helped establish a framework for each speaker's approach to planetary health. This second element of discussion was particularly helpful as the course had students from all over Stanford (ranging from freshman studying human biology to seniors studying product design to GSB students focused on sustainability and business to Stanford faculty interested in learning more about planetary health). Throughout the quarter, each student drafted a policy brief, which allowed us to further hone in on a specific area of interest within planetary health and understand the complexity of designing planetary health solutions. 

For me though, the biggest thing I gained from the course was a new way of thinking about problems (planetary health and beyond): systems thinking. Through a lecture from Banny Banerjee, we understood that one of the most effective ways to solve a problem is to: understand and embrace its complexity, look within the system to see which leverage points or subsystems have the most potential for impactful change, and create clear pathways to change that account for all the other elements of the system. And instead of just hearing about this concept, we had the chance to experience it firsthand through the course structure and assignments, which embodied systems thinking. The diverse lecturers, for example, offered different perspectives that highlighted complexity while the interviews for our policy briefs allowed for the identification of leverage points and the policy brief gave us a chance to identify clear pathways for impact.