What We Do
The Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre is a physical and online hub of action and global inspiration with the goal of restoring natural systems and building healthy, resilient communities.
From local events to solutions media, and past and present collaborations with organisations such as Western Sydney University, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, University of New South Wales, Notre Dame University and the University of Technology Sydney, it seeks to develop and implement solutions for how local governments and communities can work together to drive the required change to restore the health of our planet.
Collaborating for Change
Local governments across the world play a critical role in shaping the places where people and nature coexist every day.
The Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre shows how meaningful collaboration between councils, communities and thought leaders in both academia and industry can enable the change needed to support the health of people, ecosystems and all life into the future.
Our Focus Areas
Facilitating Learning
The Centre runs programs and events that build community capability, knowledge and resilience as well as programs aimed at students, researchers and industry professionals to help develop vital skills and grow the global Planetary Health movement.
Over the last three years, the programs and events have included:
Skill Share Saturdays – community knowledge sharing for health & sustainability (ongoing)
Community Expos on Disaster Preparedness (2025 and upcoming in 2026)
The Future Proofing with Circular Water Symposium (2024)
The Blue Mountains Peace Symposium (2025)
Planetary Health training for medical students (2024 and 2025)
Food security community days (2025 and upcoming in 2026)
Gardening workshops (ongoing)
Bushcare and natural systems regeneration activities (ongoing)
Events sharing First Nations knowledge in achieving balance with nature (ongoing)
Collaborations with local schools to inspire and engage students (ongoing)
Demonstrating Solutions
Having a physical presence in the 30 hectare Planetary Health Precinct in Katoomba has provided an opportunity to implement and demonstrate tangible solutions to many of the challenges communities face in these times of changing climate and increasing natural disasters.
Under the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund grant received in 2023, the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre implemented the Future Proofing with Circular Water project. Because the Blue Mountains region faces dual threats - extreme bushfires and flash-flood-inducing storms - this circular water solution was designed to show how communities can capture, clean, recycle and strategically deploy water to mitigate disaster risks.
The solution includes a 150,000L underground water retention tank, a 'Hydraloop' Greywater Recycling System, and an advanced Bushfire Sprinkler System & Training Wall that can be used to inform the public and upskill tradespeople on how to implement bushfire protection solutions in residential properties.
By creating a closed loop where water is never treated as waste, the system models how local water security is our best defence against drought, heat waves, flash flooding and catastrophic bushfires.
Believing that restoring the health of the planet requires hopeful narratives and local success stories, the Centre developed six local news sites spanning the bioregion (from the Lower Blue Mountains to Lithgow) to document and share local restoration and resilience stories.
Following this success, the Planetary Health News website was launched to consolidate all the local news stories and share grassroots solutions with a wider audience. In 2026, Planetary Health News became The Blueprint, with an expanded mission to bring the stories of positive action to a global audience.
Local and Global Solutions Media
