The interlinkages between disease and environment have a long history in various health traditions. Nowadays, the increased of anthropic activities has accelerate some threats and risks such as the global climate crisis, which direct and indirect impacts contributing to the emergency of new challenges to health that not only affected the human life, but also among other species in the planet. Considering the current and expected impact, it is imperative that policies, measures, strategies, and actions be adopted to reduce the vulnerability of the population and increase resilience of health systems.
Epidemics highlight the inter-coupled dynamics of socio-ecological, socio-technological, and socio-cultural systems in a diversity of spatial and temporal scales, which encourage us to more appreciate of the complex processes involved to elaborate effective responses in the matter. Looking at social-ecological systems, as living entities, requires a commitment to working with people who think and act in diverse ways; thinking about how these systems extend beyond governance designed for humans; and assessing problems collectively from diverse perspectives, to advocate for the promotion of health equity not only for humans but also for other living organisms and ecosystems. Besides, this challenges us to question the role of dominant anthropocentric narratives and to reposition perspectives that have traditionally been omitted from conventional approaches to public health.
The present work is part of a Master's thesis, whose main objective is to understand from a systemic-constructivist perspective the links between environmental rationalities and the semantics of health and wellbeing identified in a small town at southern Chile that has developed under the influence of forestry industry, which has marked certain dynamics in the territory. The understnding of these implications has a practical relevance since it will allow the development of local strategies and interventions that contribute to improve health governance and resilience.