911勛圖

From the very beginning, my vision, co-developed with  (UNBC) and supported by Dr. Maya Gislason (911勛圖), was to build something different���a space led by early career researchers (ECRs) where people from all over the world could come together across disciplines, sectors, and generations to nurture relationships and shared purpose, and provide support and encouragement to each other.

The 2022 summit was a 24-hour series of connected regional dialogues. By 2025, it had grown into a three-day event with 45 panelists, and 748 participants from 86 countries. Today, I co-lead the Summit with an incredible team of seven ECRs from around the world繒 .

The events are guided by the theme ���Working Together for a Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Future.��� We���ve worked hard to ground every gathering in an ethic of care and love - for ourselves, for our more-than-human kin, and for our planetary community.

We intentionally sought to centre storytelling, reflection, and shared humanity. One of the most meaningful outcomes was hearing people say that this space makes them feel less alone in their work.

Knowledge Mobilization in Action: Learnings from the "Earth Hug"

The "Earth Hug" is, at its core, a project in knowledge mobilization for planetary health, , and Ecohealth. It���s a place where Indigenous Elders, researchers, youth, artists, activists, physicians, policymakers, and community members have come together to share stories, insights, and visions for the future.

Through facilitating this event over the years, I have learned so much about the power of communication, humility, and genuine human connection to sustain action on multi-crises. Here are some of the key principles and learnings that have emerged from the "Earth Hug":

Transdisciplinarity and Breaking Silos:

It is essential to move beyond rigid disciplinary boundaries and celebrate complementarity, drawing from Ecohealth, One Health, Planetary Health, Indigenous knowledge, and community wisdom without being stuck in disciplines, fields, or approaches. It is a powerful reminder of the strength of moving to the edges of our disciplines and working collaboratively.

Centering Values and Relationships:

Starting by identifying shared values is a transformative practice, while also honouring epistemic diversity. Regardless of background or sector, naming what we care about and why connects participants in deeper, more authentic ways. Rather than focusing on if people identify as working in an integrative health field (i.e., Planetary Health, Ecohealth, One Health), we invite participation from anyone who resonates with trying to ���work together for a healthy, just, and sustainable future���.

Healing and promotion of health (of humans, animals, and environments) is relational. As one participant beautifully put it, ���The future is something we build together - with care, with humility, and with love.���

Working Locally, Thinking Globally:

While the Summit is global, our dialogues are grounded in local realities and partnerships. This means inviting Elders, youth, and local leaders to share their experiences and wisdom. We have tried over the years to bring a sense of place into our conversations by inviting local music, photos, and participation from people who are outside. Place-based knowledge shapes global learning, and global lessons are often more powerful and applicable when rooted back in place-based ways.

Departing from Eurocentric Models:

Indigenous, feminist, and artistic perspectives are necessary to reimagine what just, healthy systems look like. Instead of extractive, control-oriented frameworks, we must honour relationships and reciprocal connections, and not view environments and animals as resources to be managed. We encourage participants to bring in arts, creative forms of expression, and insights rooted in diverse ways of knowing and being.

Accessible Knowledge Sharing:

Accessibility and openness dismantle hierarchies and invites deeper participation. Acknowledging the limitations in only sharing knowledge in English, we have encouraged multilingual participation. For example, the South and is run in Spanish, with live translation into Portuguese and English.

Collaborative tools like and are used for story-sharing so participants are able to share in their own way. Sessions are recorded and through our social media channels, to registrants of our events, on our linktr.ee and on our new website. While there is more, we want to do, I���ve learned how much accessibility and openness can dismantle hierarchies and invite deeper participation.

Every year, when we close the final session, I���m reminded why we keep doing this. One participant from our 2025 Summit said, ���Connection is a form of resistance.��� In times when the world can feel heavy with despair, and when our progress and efforts feel too slow or gets disrupted, the Earth Hug has shown me that connection across geographies, approaches, and hearts can be one way to keep going.

Now, as a group of early career individuals around the world, we are looking to supplement these annual global gatherings with place-based in-person opportunities for connection and support, and as of 2026, have created the non-profit organization.