“Health and Environment are key social priorities but different people have different takes on what they mean. Understanding this is crucial if medical and environmental policies are to achieve their desired effects.” (Charles Pigott)

What does it mean to be healthy? What are the overlaps between health and wellbeing? How do they differ? How does culture influence what we consider to be healthy or unhealthy, “good” or “bad” for us?

What do we mean by “environment”? Is “the environment” the same as “nature”? How is “an environment” different from our “surroundings”? And how are “health” and “environment” related when we speak of “a healthy environment” or “the health of the environment”?

The Health and Environment Research Cluster is a space for debating these questions, and more. We bring multiple voices to the table – disciplinary, cultural, linguistic and historical – to explore how human societies understand health, environment and the connections between the two. Both are commonly used words with high stakes, but their precise meanings are hard to pin down, and change from one context to another. They are not even directly translatable into many of the world’s languages, being products of a Western worldview. Health and environment are also closely interrelated. Environmental degradation affects human health at multiple levels, while some environments are considered healthier than others.

This aim of the Cluster is to advance Humanities-informed, multidisciplinary collaborations across all Faculties at the University of Strathclyde and with other researchers and organisations both locally and globally. Entire scientific fields have devoted themselves to “health” and  “environment”, bringing incalculable benefits to the world. Yet science is also a product of society; it reflects and reproduces social norms, understandings and expectations around what these concepts mean and the kind of research that should be prioritised. Identifying the gaps and correspondences between scientific research and cultural perceptions is crucial if medical or ecological solutions are to have real-world success.

By bringing together researchers, teachers and practitioners across the Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences, the Health and Environment Research Cluster seeks to advance reflective, critical and culturally informed perspectives that shed new light on these issues and pave the way for positive social impacts.