Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.4
Journals
IJERPH
Special Issues
Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level:...
ijerph-logo
Submit to IJERPH Review for IJERPH Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level: Global Perspectives

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2021) | Viewed by 18918

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alina Herrmann

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Interests: heat-health; lifestyle-related health-co benefits; climate change in primary health care
Prof. Maria Nilsson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, 90185 Umeå, Sweden
Interests: climate change and health impacts; adaptation; resilience and mitigation; climate communication; community interventions and policy development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underlined in its 1.5 °C Special Report that climate change at its current pace poses a great threat to human civilization. Based on these scientific insights, global movements such as Fridays for Future or Extinction Rebellion have now drawn broader public attention to the fact that all sectors in society will be affected by climate change and therefore need to act. Put simply, while climate change is a global phenomenon, local action is needed. This is also true for the health sector.

In this Special Issue we encourage both qualitative and quantitative scientific work that investigates health-related climate change action at the community level. We are interested in studies investigating adaptation strategies to health impacts of climate change as well as studies investigating health aspects of mitigation strategies, e.g., health co-benefits. We strongly support a conceptual combination of adaptation and mitigation. As we are particularly interested in local responses to, and implementation and communication of, health-related climate action, we invite authors to focus on these community-level aspects. “Community-level” for us also includes research in the primary health care setting. We particularly, but not exclusively, encourage work from low- and middle-income countries and institutions.

Dr. med. Alina Herrmann
Prof. Maria Nilsson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate change adaptation
  • climate change mitigation
  • sustainability
  • health
  • health co-benefits
  • primary care
  • community health
  • community response
  • implementation
  • communication

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review, Other

19 pages, 908 KiB  
Article
Heat Perception and Coping Strategies: A Structured Interview-Based Study of Elderly People in Cologne, Germany
by Juliane Kemen, Silvia Schäffer-Gemein, Johanna Grünewald and Thomas Kistemann
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7495; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18147495 - 14 Jul 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3759
Abstract
The transdisciplinary project “Heat-Health Action Plan for Elderly People in Cologne” addresses the most heat-vulnerable risk group, people over 65 years of age. A quantitative study aimed to better understand heat perception and coping strategies of elderly people during heat waves to inform [...] Read more.
The transdisciplinary project “Heat-Health Action Plan for Elderly People in Cologne” addresses the most heat-vulnerable risk group, people over 65 years of age. A quantitative study aimed to better understand heat perception and coping strategies of elderly people during heat waves to inform heat-health action plans. We conducted a representative quantitative survey via structured interviews with 258 randomly chosen people over 65 years old, living in their own homes in four areas of Cologne, Germany. These areas varied, both in terms of social status and heat strain. Data regarding demographics, health status, coping strategies, and heat perception were collected in personal interviews from August to October 2019. The majority of the participants perceived heat strain as moderate to very challenging. Women, people with a lower monthly income, and those with a lower health status found the heat more challenging. We found that participants adapted to heat with a number of body-related, home-protective, and activity-related coping strategies. The number of coping strategies was associated with perceived personal heat strain. There is a definite underuse of water-related heat adaption strategies among the elderly. This is of increasing relevance, as rising heat impact will lead to more heat-related geriatric morbidity. Our results are seminal to inform elderly-specific, socio-adapted local heat-health action plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level: Global Perspectives)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1179 KiB  
Article
“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso
by Raissa Sorgho, Isabel Mank, Moubassira Kagoné, Aurélia Souares, Ina Danquah and Rainer Sauerborn
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(19), 7200; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17197200 - 01 Oct 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5267
Abstract
In West Africa, climate change aggravates subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to weather variability to sustain their agricultural and nutritional requirements. For successful adaptation policies, in-depth understanding of farmers’ perceptions about climate change, agriculture, and adaptation strategies is essential. This qualitative study in rural Burkina [...] Read more.
In West Africa, climate change aggravates subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to weather variability to sustain their agricultural and nutritional requirements. For successful adaptation policies, in-depth understanding of farmers’ perceptions about climate change, agriculture, and adaptation strategies is essential. This qualitative study in rural Burkina Faso characterized farmers’ perceptions and knowledge through in-depth interviews. The study enumerated the barriers, possibilities, strategies/practices, and support sources of farmers. There was awareness but limited understanding of climate change amongst farmers. Those unable to adapt, faced increased health difficulties, specifically regarding nutrition and mental health. Farmers could implement some dietary and agricultural adaptation strategies (reduce meal size, frequency and variety, preemptive purchase of cereals, multi-cropping, crop rotation, modified seeds) but were unable to implement others (soil rehabilitation, water management). Barriers to implementation comprised financial and time constraints, material and labor shortages, and inaccessible information. Farmers did not understand, trust or utilize meteorological services, but appreciated and relied on agricultural extension services. They reported that social and governmental support was sporadic and inconsistent. This study uncovers the following targets for climate change adaptation policies in rural Burkina Faso: promoting meteorological services, expanding agricultural extension services, increasing access to financial resources, and framing sustainable adaptation within national development goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level: Global Perspectives)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research, Other

21 pages, 622 KiB  
Review
Climate Change Policies in 16 West African Countries: A Systematic Review of Adaptation with a Focus on Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition
by Raissa Sorgho, Carlos A. Montenegro Quiñonez, Valérie R. Louis, Volker Winkler, Peter Dambach, Rainer Sauerborn and Olaf Horstick
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(23), 8897; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17238897 - 30 Nov 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6599
Abstract
Climate change strongly impacts the agricultural sector in West Africa, threatening food security and nutrition, particularly for populations with the least adaptive capacity. Little is known about national climate change policies in the region. This systematic review identifies and analyses climate change policy [...] Read more.
Climate change strongly impacts the agricultural sector in West Africa, threatening food security and nutrition, particularly for populations with the least adaptive capacity. Little is known about national climate change policies in the region. This systematic review identifies and analyses climate change policy documents in all 16 West African countries: (1) What are the existing climate change adaptation policies publicly available? (2) Which topics are addressed? (3) How are agriculture and food security framed and addressed? Following PRISMA guidelines, PubMed and Google scholar as key databases were searched with an extensive grey literature search. Keywords for searches were combinations of “Africa”, “Climate Change”, and “National Policy/Plan/Strategy/Guideline”. Fifteen countries have at least one national policy document on climate change in the frame of our study. Nineteen policy documents covered seven key sectors (energy, agriculture, water resources, health, forestry, infrastructure, and education), and eight thematic areas (community resilience, disaster risk management, institutional development, industry development, research and development, policy making, economic investment, and partnerships/collaboration). At the intersection of these sectors/areas, effects of changing climate on countries/populations were evaluated and described. Climate change adaptation strategies emerged including development of local risk/disaster plans, micro-financing and insurance schemes (public or private), green energy, and development of community groups/farmers organizations. No clear trend emerged when analysing the adaptation options, however, climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector was almost always included. Analysing agriculture, nutrition, and food security, seven agricultural challenges were identified: The small scale of West African farming, information gaps, missing infrastructure, poor financing, weak farmer/community organizations, a shifting agricultural calendar, and deteriorating environmental ecology. They reflect barriers to adaptation especially for small-scale subsistence farmers with increased climate change vulnerabilities. The study has shown that most West African countries have climate change policies. Nevertheless, key questions remain unanswered, and demand for further research, e.g., on evaluating the implementation in the respective countries, persists. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level: Global Perspectives)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research, Review

1 pages, 250 KiB  
Addendum
Addendum: Sorgho, R., et al. Climate Change Policies in 16 West African Countries: A Systematic Review of Adaptation with a Focus on Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8897
by Raissa Sorgho, Carlos A. Montenegro Quiñonez, Valérie R. Louis, Volker Winkler, Peter Dambach, Rainer Sauerborn and Olaf Horstick
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 945; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18030945 - 22 Jan 2021
Viewed by 2771
Abstract
The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Community Level: Global Perspectives)
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop