Rewatch the CARING NATURE online training and discover practical ways to support greener, more resilient healthcare systems

How can healthcare professionals turn environmental sustainability from an ambition into concrete action? This is a crucial question that CARING NATURE partners Chiara Cadeddu, Doris Zjalic and Danielle Wilkinson from Erasmus University Rotterdam addressed by providing practical guidance during a training session designed for nurses, healthcare managers and students.

Held on 3 September 2026, the online training, entitled “Environmentally sustainable healthcare: what every nurse and manager needs to know”, provided an accessible introduction to the environmental challenges facing healthcare systems and the concrete actions that professionals can take within their own organisations.

The course especially explored the connections between the climate and ecological crisis, human health and healthcare delivery, while providing participants with concrete approaches to support more sustainable and resilient healthcare organisations.

The full recording of the training is now available on YouTube: watch the CARING NATURE training

Understanding healthcare through a Planetary Health perspective

One of the central messages of the course was the importance of looking beyond carbon emissions alone.

Through the concept of Planetary Health, participants explored the complex relationships between human health, climate change, ecosystems, biodiversity and other environmental pressures. The course highlighted how changes in natural systems can affect health directly, but also indirectly through social and structural determinants of health, increasing the vulnerability of certain populations and putting additional pressure on healthcare systems.

This systems-thinking approach encourages healthcare professionals to consider sustainability not as an isolated environmental issue, but as an integral part of health, quality of care, equity and organisational resilience.

Healthcare is both part of the challenge and part of the solution

Healthcare systems exist to protect and improve health, yet their activities also generate a significant environmental footprint.

During the training, participants learned that the healthcare sector is responsible for approximately 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A particularly important lesson concerned the role of healthcare supply chains: medicines, medical devices, consumables and other purchased goods and services account for a large share of the sector’s overall climate footprint.

This creates significant opportunities for action. Reducing environmental impacts is not only about hospital buildings or energy consumption. It can also involve rethinking procurement, resource use, waste management, clinical practices, mobility and the use of medical products.

Sustainability also means building resilient healthcare systems

Environmental sustainability cannot be separated from climate resilience and adaptation.

Healthcare organisations are increasingly exposed to challenges such as heatwaves, extreme weather events, supply-chain disruptions and changing patterns of disease. During the course, participants were invited to reflect on how such events are already affecting their own services and which patient groups are likely to be particularly vulnerable.

Building resilient healthcare therefore requires organisations not only to reduce their own environmental footprint, but also to anticipate climate-related risks, assess vulnerabilities and strengthen their capacity to continue delivering safe and high-quality care.

The course highlighted the importance of involving a wide range of stakeholders, sharing knowledge, strengthening institutional capacity and integrating adaptation into organisational planning and decision-making.

Finding practical levers for action

A key objective of the training was to help participants identify where they can act within their own role and organisation.

Several possible entry points were discussed, including:

  • waste management and circular practices;
  • sustainable procurement;
  • environmental indicators and measurement;
  • digitalisation and telemedicine;
  • sustainable prescribing;
  • climate adaptation and resilience measures.

Rather than waiting for an organisation-wide transformation, participants were encouraged to identify realistic actions that could be initiated within their own sphere of influence, while considering potential barriers and the colleagues or decision-makers who could help overcome them.

From a small “green team” to wider systemic change

One of the most concrete examples shared during the training came from Danielle Wilkinson’s experience as an intensive care nurse.

Faced with the growing use of single-use products, she helped establish a multidisciplinary green team involving nurses, doctors, pharmacists, managers, infection prevention specialists and other relevant staff.

The team began with relatively simple changes, such as introducing reusable alternatives for selected items, while ensuring that clinical safety remained the priority. Importantly, the team also measured the results.

Within the first six months, these initiatives generated approximately AUD 25,000 in financial savings and diverted around 180 kg of waste in a single department. The approach was subsequently shared with other units, hospitals and sustainability networks, illustrating how small local initiatives can progressively contribute to wider organisational and system-level change.

Anyone can help lead the change

The course concluded with a strong message: leadership for environmentally sustainable healthcare is not limited to senior management.

Professionals at different levels can contribute by identifying opportunities, gathering evidence, building teams, sharing successful initiatives and adapting their communication to different audiences.

The experience shared during the course highlighted several practical lessons: start with achievable actions, measure results, learn from what already works elsewhere, communicate successes and involve the people who will ultimately need to support or implement the change. Resistance should also be expected, making collaboration and stakeholder engagement particularly important.

Ultimately, environmental sustainability can become part of existing approaches to quality improvement, professional responsibility and better healthcare delivery, rather than being treated as a separate objective.

Watch the full training

Whether you are a healthcare professional, manager, sustainability practitioner or student, the CARING NATURE course provides an accessible introduction to the principles and practical tools that can help make healthcare organisations greener, more resilient and better prepared for future environmental challenges.

Watch the full recording and discover how you can contribute to sustainable change within your own healthcare organisation.