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Ecohealth Promotion Certificate

Learn and guide individuals to think systemically about improving both their individual health and that of the surrounding ecosystem through wellness practices and behaviours in the outdoors.

Overview

Laurentian’s new Certificate in Ecohealth Promotion prepares graduates to help people to make personal decisions and think systemically about improving both their health and that of the surrounding ecosystem. Following the successful completion of this 30-credit certificate, students will be able to:

  • Integrate and apply curriculum, theory, and concepts related to health promotion, outdoor leadership, and environmental biology;
  • Critically examine relevant conceptual and theoretical frameworks and models related to outdoor leadership, health promotion, ecosystem health, and ecohealth; 
  • Critically appraise the evidence-base for ecohealth and ecohealth promotion; 
  • Understand how a person’s ecohealth reflects harmonious and interactive physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and ecological relationships;  
  • Compare and contrast ecohealth promotion with other diverse Indigenous land-based and outdoor therapeutic approaches to health promotion;
  • Understand the diverse ways ecohealth can be negatively impacted through ecosystem degradation and disease transmission; 
  • Explore the various contraindications to consider when promoting or applying ecohealth principles; 
  • Investigate various ways to live holistically with the land in terms of harmonious and integrated human, animal, and plant health;
  • Acquire wellness practices that reflect evidence-based ways to apply ecohealth promotion practices and techniques;
  • Reflect on personal ecohealth in terms of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and ecological well-being;
  • Assess how ecohealth and ecohealth promotion can benefit society and planet earth.

As a graduate, you will be equipped to enhance personal and planetary health by encouraging and training people, through harmonious interactions with nature, to aspire to a state of mutually beneficial relationships developed across interwoven dimensions of well-being (endohealth: physical, mental, emotional; and ectohealth: spiritual, social, and ecological).

Key Features

A leaf

Investigate various ways to live holistically with the land in terms of harmonious and integrated human, animal, and plant health.

An illuminated lightbulb on top of an open book.

Acquire wellness practices that reflect evidence-based ways to apply ecohealth promotion practices and techniques.

Planet Earth

Assess how ecohealth and ecohealth promotion can benefit society and planet earth.

Certificate Coordinator

Stephen D. Ritchie, PhD

Telephone: 705-675-1151 ext. 1046

Email: Ecohealth@laurentian.ca

Certificate Details

Program Language: English
Most courses can also be taken in French

Delivery method: In-person

Faculty: Faculty of Education and Health

School: School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences

Additional Facts and Information

This 30-credit program developed through the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences is now available to students within the school.  A limited number of new applicants and students from other programs at Laurentian will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

There are no admission requirements for current students in the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences.

Admission requirements for all non-School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences students are as follows:

  • Either have completed a degree or diploma (i.e. new students applying to the university specifically for the certificate); or be completing a degree program at Laurentian University (i.e. current students registered in other programs)
  • Complete the following courses either prior to or concurrently with the certificate courses (unless they the equivalent content was completed as part of previous degree or diploma program):
    • BIOL 1700 Structure and Function of the Human Body OR
    • BIOL 2105 Human Anatomy and Physiology or equivalent (6 credits)
    • PHED 1006 Exercise Science or equivalent (3 credits)
  • 6 credits of courses with a minimum of 50% Indigenous content (with the recommendation that these 6 credits include curriculum related to Indigenous health, health promotion, and/or land-based healing).

Contact the certificate coordinator regarding potential credit transferability.

If you are interested in completing the Ecohealth Promotion Certificate and would like to be contacted via e-mail with more information about the next steps, please complete the Pre-Registration Form.

Copy and paste the URL https://forms.gle/2QUV3wLibrYr32Hr5 into your preferred browser if the hyperlink does not work.

To view all of the required courses for this certificate, go to the Degree Options section of the Health Promotion program page and scroll down to Certificate in Ecohealth Promotion.