CASCADES’ vision is a pan-Canadian health system that supports a healthy planet, is caring and equitable, and serves communities so that they thrive. Their work supports the Canadian healthcare community in making this vision a reality. CASCADES strengthens the capacity of the healthcare community across Canada to transition towards, high-quality, low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient care through:
- Resources to fill the implementation gap. We leverage community expertise to build robust implementation resources.
- Training to strengthen the capacity for change. We deliver training through a range of courses and events.
- Collaboration to foster pan-Canadian coordination. We work with interested parties across the country with a view to pan-Canadian exchange and coordination.
Across Canada, teams are testing and refining evidence-informed change ideas. CASCADES work alongside these innovators to equip and empower a broader community of early adopters. CASCADES also work with partners across Canada to embed validated change ideas within health system guidance, policy, regulation, and institutional structures.
They work with and learn from many other organizations and individuals across the country. CASCADES is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada and is an initiative of four founding partners: the University of Toronto Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health & Sustainable Care, the Healthy Populations Institute at Dalhousie University, the Planetary Healthcare Lab at the University of British Columbia, and the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care. In Quebec, CASCADES is a partner in the Réseau d’action pour la santé durable du Québec.
Key collaborations:
- The Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) and CASCADES are partnering to offer health leaders in Canada a new avenue to leverage, build knowledge, skills and networks across Canada’s healthcare community to promote and deliver sustainable health systems.
- Through the Health Leadership Specialty in Sustainable Health Systems, Canadian health leaders will undertake the FREE Fundamentals of Sustainable Health Systems course and one of the advanced courses. Participants will apply their learning in their workplace and write a paper on the impact and experience of knowledge translation. The paper is reviewed by a panel of three CCHL Fellowship Evaluators, who may award the Health Leadership Specialty in Sustainable Health Systems.
- HealthcareLCA constitutes the first global living database of healthcare-related environmental impact assessments. The HealthcareLCA database is designed to support the transition to sustainable, low-carbon health systems, providing an open-access, interactive, and up-to-date evidence resource for healthcare workers, sustainability researchers, and policymakers. The collaboration between CASCADES and HealthcareLCA aims at supporting regular updates of the database and its availability as an open access resource.
Transparency | Diversity | Dynamism | Evidence-based |