COVID-19 AND THE EARTH:

A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY STUDY REVIEW OF DISAND RE-CONNECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PLANETARY HEALTH

Resumo

The unprecedented impacts of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), whose origin is still unclear, but whose consequences have exposed the fragility of human and planet’s health, and of their connection, allow reflections on the pandemic’s challenges and opportunities. Inside this setting it is crucial to understand how different disciplines trace the root causes of such fragility, and of the separation forces, and explore reconnection solutions. Conducting a systematic and multidisciplinary study review from veterinary science, socioeconomics, Western environmental ethics, indigenous visions, and political philosophy, the contribution features five testimonies in different research fields on the breaking and reconnecting points between humans and non-humans in the natural world. From the multidisciplinary review emerges a recurring pattern of division and connection in the relationship between humans and non-humans on the Planet, and such awareness in research enables the further exploration of integrated concepts and approaches to human and non-human health. In light of the results, the contribution discusses the possibility of adopting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (in one word: holistic) approaches to health, that have the potential to connect methods of analysis and explore integrative solution patterns across disciplines. Multidisciplinary and holistic research approaches to human and non-human help to identify breaking and connecting points. Potential implications of further studies in this direction will lead to an increased discernment of solutions that could heal our planetary health.