Reimagining Population Health Disparities in Socioeconomic Contexts: A Forward-Looking Agenda for Equity and Planetary Health
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental and planetary health; public health systems and policy; health equity and social determinants of health; workforce development and leadership in health professions; community-based and interprofessional education; environmental justice and resilience
Interests: public health; community resilience; equity; sustainability; planetary health; nature-based solutions; greenspace and bluespace
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite decades of research on the social and economic determinants of health, persistent population health disparities continue to challenge communities worldwide. These inequities, rooted in socioeconomic conditions such as income, education, employment, housing, and neighborhood infrastructure, are increasingly compounded by planetary health stressors, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. Together, these interconnected forces threaten the foundations of public health and demand a reimagined, forward-looking, and equity-centered response.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) aims to advance an integrative agenda that connects socioeconomic determinants, environmental systems, and planetary health. We invite interdisciplinary scholarship that explores how social and ecological contexts interact to shape health outcomes and equity across populations. Submissions should illuminate pathways toward sustainable, resilient, and just systems that promote both human and planetary well-being.
We particularly welcome work that bridges public health, environmental justice, social policy, urban planning, and climate science to envision transformative solutions for equitable and sustainable futures.
Aims and Scope
The aim of this Special Issue is to advance interdisciplinary research and practice at the intersection of population health, socioeconomic inequities, and planetary health. We seek to deepen understanding of how structural, environmental, and climatic forces shape health disparities across communities and to identify transformative strategies that foster equitable and sustainable futures. The scope of this issue includes studies that integrate social, economic, and ecological determinants of health; evaluate interventions or policies that promote health equity and resilience; and propose innovative frameworks that align population well-being with planetary boundaries. Submissions from diverse disciplines such as public health, environmental science, social policy, urban planning, and global health are encouraged in order to foster cross-sector collaboration and systemic change.
Topics of Interest
This Special Issue welcomes submissions that include, but are not limited to,
- Conceptual and empirical studies linking socioeconomic inequities with planetary health frameworks;
- Analyses of how environmental degradation and climate change exacerbate existing health disparities;
- Cross-sector initiatives and policies that address the nexus of environment, economy, and health equity;
- Community-based or participatory research addressing resilience, adaptation, and health justice;
- Evaluations of interventions mitigating both social and ecological determinants of poor health;
- Systems-level models integrating social, environmental, and climatic variables to predict health outcomes;
- Case studies of climate-resilient communities and health systems addressing equity challenges;
- Global or comparative perspectives on how socioeconomic and environmental contexts interact to produce or mitigate disparities;
- Frameworks for advancing planetary health literacy in research, education, and practice.
Prof. Dr. Rosemary M. Caron
Prof. Dr. Semra A. Aytur
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
- population health
- disparities
- health equity
- planetary health
- social determinants of health
- environmental justice
- climate change
- sustainable development
- socioeconomic contexts
- policy innovation
- systems thinking
- global health
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