2022 Programme

In 2022, Centric Lab is setting up infrastructure and tools for Healing Futures - various futures created by all Peoples in Kinship with Nature for equitable access to various healing practices and knowledges. It has become strikingly obvious we either keep going down a road of extraction, planetary dysregulation, and poor health outcomes or we collectively take steps towards healing. For us this means listening, acknowledging, and equitable collaborating with individuals and communities that are facing health inequities due to environmental pollutants and deprivation. These communities have Scholarships and Knowledges that we need to collectively create Healing Futures. 

Below are the four themes for 2022, if you would like to be a contributor or financially support our programme, please email araceli@thecentriclab.com.

 
 
 
 

Jan, Feb, March

 

Ecological Health

The first quarter will focus on defining and mentally framing health as an ecological phenomena. This is to remove the blame of poor health outcomes on individuals, ignoring the systemic factors that contribute to disease pathways. In turn this line of thinking can create reductive and at times discriminatory public health strategies, which can propagate health inequities.

  • What is ecological health?

    How does ecological health relate to the evolution of disease?

    What are the biological links between obesity and trauma and environmental pollutants?

    What are the biological links between diabetes and environmental pollutants and deprivation?

    What are the biological links between depression and environmental pollutants?

    How does the triage of obesity, depression, and diabetes relate to later life chronic diseases such as dementia and Parkinsons?

  • What does this information mean for public health strategies and policy?

    How does information change the way GP’s and other health practitioners frame health?

    How does this information help us think about city infrastructure?

    How do you build a more just lexicon around health?

 
 
 
 

April, May, June

 

Planetary Health & Human Health

We will be advancing the conversation from the 1st quarter on ecological health to look at the links between Planetary dysregulation, climate change, and human health.

  • What is planetary dysregulation and how does that link to human health?

    How does climate related displacement affect health outcomes?

    The trauma pathways of climate change by demographics (migrants, Indigenous Peoples, Multi-ethnic working class)

    What is the link between health, climate change, and cities?

    What are the health consequences for children growing up in a planetary crisis?

    What is the link between the health of Trans Peoples and climate change?

    What is the link between climate change and people who experience disabilities?

    The disease pathways between Land rights, Planetary dysregulation and Indigenous People’s health

    What are the links between worker rights, climate change, and worker health?

  • Policy ramifications for worker rights

    Health strategies for children and marginalised populations

    The evolution of urban planning

    Workplace health

 
 
 
 

July, August, September

 

Gendered Health

There are more incidents of bladder cancer in men - is the risk factor sex? Or are there other risk factors to consider such as the type of work men are socially designated to do, like long haul driving, which exposes them to air pollution, poor sleep, and long sedentary periods ?

Depression rates higher in females and yet suicides are higher in men, what drives these differences? We need to consider how the sociocultural factors that shape our lived experiences  contribute to differences in disease. 

Centric will also investigate the role of gender marginalisation and discrimination in health inequities, such as those faced by Black and Indigenous women, and, Intersex, and Trans peoples. 

  • How does science need to evolve to include the Non Binary, Trans, and Intersex Peoples in studies?

    What is the history of sex and gender in western society?

    How does sex and gender interplay in health?

    The colonialist effects of gender and sex on Indigenous Peoples health.

    Endocrine disruptors and their poor health pathways in various gendered populations.

    Trauma as endocrine disruptor and its gendered health pathways.

    The trauma of engaging with health institutions as a marginalised person; Trans, Indigenous Peoples, Black, and People of Colour.

  • New framings for policy on endocrine disruptors

    Strategies for building homes with reduced endocrine disruptors

    Workplace design with less endocrine disruptors

    Accessible and inclusive healthcare practices

 
 
 
 

Oct, Nov, Dec

 

Healing Futures

We will end the year by looking at how to create opportunities for equitable Healing Futures. The intention is to hold roundtables with various communities, citizens, and practitioners to uncover what Healing Futures look like and the strategies behind them. 

  • A Black perspective on Healing Futures

    A Disabled perspective on Healing Futures

    A Non-Binary perspective on Healing Futures

    An Indigenous perspective on Healing Futures

    A Multi-ethnic working class perspective on Healing Futures

    A Trans Perspective on Healing Future

    A Child’s perspective on Healing Futures

    A Nature (non human) perspective on Healing Futures

    The importance of equitable access of time/space for BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Colour) for Healing Futures.

    The importance of Kinship with Nature for Healing Futures

  • A new framework for “Just Transition”

    Urban planning and community health strategies

 
 

Special Issue

For 2022 we are going to produce a special issue on “Extractive Economies and Health”. We will be looking at how the practices of extractive economies, such as drilling and mining are contributing to poor health outcomes. Additionally, we will critique the extractive methods of the “Green Technology” and put forward Indigenous and Black alternatives to the western “Green New Deal”.

 
 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 

If you are a practitioner or an organisation that works on public health or your work impacts community health, please get in touch with us about sponsoring our programme. Your investment into the Urban Health Council helps build the backbone infrastructure to improve equitable dialogues between authorities, practitioners, campaigners and communities. Your funds will go directly in the hiring of scientists, practitioners and community experts to develop, research and produce the work. As an independent lab, we rely on citizen funding and sponsorship to produce our open source science.

Please contact Josh@thecentriclab.com to discuss further

COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES

For 2022 we are looking for neuroscientists that have an interest in public health, trauma, metabolic disorders, and mental health. We are also looking for community experts with lived experience on any of the topics we are covering. Finally, we are looking for practitioners that come from Indigenous, Black, Trans, and multi-ethnic working class backgrounds. 

Please contact araceli@thecentriclab.com to discuss further.

 
 

Please join us on 11th January 2022 for a virtual town hall where we will be going over the year and taking feedback from the community.