Creating healthy and just bioregions

Area of Science:

• Sustainability Science
• Environmental Health
• Urban Planning

Background:

• Disadvantaged communities disproportionately suffer from cumulative toxicant exposure and environmental stressors.
• Emerging Sustainability Science and bioregionalism offer place-based solutions for public health challenges.
• Existing planning often fails to address cross-scale and cross-topical environmental and health issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a bioregionally inspired integrated planning framework (IPF).
• To demonstrate the application of IPF in San Diego, California.
• To highlight the importance of interdisciplinary approaches for reducing toxicant impacts and promoting environmental justice.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an integrated planning framework (IPF) to connect various scales (regional to neighborhood) and topical areas (land use, water, food, green infrastructure).
• Focused on food-water-energy linkages within the bioregional context.
• Emphasized community-university partnerships and knowledge-action collaboratives.

Main Results:

• The San Diego case study illustrates the practical application of bioregionally inspired integrated planning.
• Identified critical food-water-energy nexus connections for strategic planning.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of "rooted" community-university partnerships in driving action.

Conclusions:

• Integrated planning frameworks, inspired by bioregionalism, are effective tools for improving public health and environmental quality.
• Place-based strategies that address interconnected systems (food, water, energy) are vital for creating healthy and just bioregions.
• Collaborative, community-engaged approaches are essential for successful implementation and long-term sustainability.