66 Developing and Delivering a Dedicated Module on Sustainability and Planetary Health

Dr Aisling O’Leary outlined how planetary health and sustainability are being embedded across the pharmacy curriculum, with a particular focus on a standalone elective module now in its third iteration. Grounded in SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), the module responds to the growing recognition that healthcare, while vital, carries a substantial ecological footprint through carbon emissions, plastic waste, pollution, and resource-intensive clinical practice. Drawing on the Planetary Health Education Framework, Dr O’Leary emphasised the centrality of interconnectedness between planetary systems and human health, the inequalities arising from environmental degradation, and the need for future pharmacists to understand both adaptation and mitigation strategies.

The module adopts a multimodal, action-oriented pedagogy incorporating experiential learning, case-based learning, service learning, and reflective practice. Students examine the ecological impacts of medicines, explore sustainable prescribing, analyse environmental contributors to disease, and engage with clinical and non-clinical vignettes that integrate planetary health into routine pharmacy scenarios. Field trips, interactive digital activities, and transdisciplinary guest speakers broaden student perspectives and highlight the pharmacist’s role in advocacy and behaviour change. Assessment has evolved to include personal sustainability challenges, quantifying avoided emissions through behaviour change, and group projects focused on sustainable campus initiatives.

Dr O’Leary also weaves planetary health concepts across her wider teaching, including health technology assessment, global public health, and clinical therapeutics. Recent student projects such as waste audits and inhaler audits, along with ongoing research collaborations on greener medicines frameworks, further strengthen the link between pharmacy education and sustainable healthcare. She concluded by emphasising the need for pedagogical shifts toward affective learning and values-based teaching to ensure graduates leave with both the competencies and the agency required for transformative climate action in healthcare.

About the author

name: Dr Aisling O’Leary

institution: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Dr Aisling O’Leary is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.