The South Australia (SA) Regional Hub comprises a group of HEAL affiliated investigators, post-docs and PhD students, and a broader Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP is a constantly evolving group of people drawn variously from academia, government, industry, community and special interest groups and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), that contribute to HEAL activities through participation in activities and through research collaboration.
The SA Regional Hub has particular expertise in the following domains, enhanced through partnerships with other groups:
- Food, soil, and water security (in partnership with the SAAFE CRC – Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food and Environments).
- Urban and built environment (in partnership with the Environment Institute at University of Adelaide and Dynamic State).
- Environmental Health and Education (in partnership with Dept Environment and Water).
- Health policy and research translation (led by A/Prof Carmel Williams and the Health in All Policies Collaborative Centre).
Methodological Approach
Co-creation of research with communities – Research projects should be designed, and ideally co-created, when possible, with the target community in mind. Working with communities to co-design adaptations to health threats is anticipated to pave the way towards effective policy and practice change.
A social justice approach to research design – By considering social justice to be a core value underpinning projects, it is hoped that projects will be linked strongly to the rights of citizens to a healthy environment. Through research the Community of Practice will explore legislative mechanisms that link the provision of healthy environments with human rights.
Regional or thematic capacity and capability needs
There was consensus around the strengths in SA of the following themes:
- Food, soil, and water security
- Urban and built environment (acknowledged gaps in transport).
And weaknesses in SA in the following themes:
- At risk populations
- Rural and remote health
- Science communication
- Ecological re-generation
- Long-term effects of heat.
Priorities
- Working towards more effective health communication methods suitable for vulnerable communities.
- Development of environmental health metrics that can be applied to human health.
- Gathering evidence about environmental change impacts on zoonotic infectious diseases.
- Linking social justice actions with environment and health research goals.
- Developing tools and evidence that contribute to better security of housing and water supply that is resilient to environmental change.
In addressing these priorities, the SA Community of Practice will work towards capacity development for better use of existing Aboriginal environmental knowledge.
Hub Lead
Professor
