Greener Practice, Greener Communities: Why Health, Climate and Physical Activity Belong in the Same Conversation.

The Green Goals Conference is built around a simple but urgent idea: environmental sustainability cannot sit separately from the way we think about health, community, participation and place.

That is why we are delighted to welcome Dr Katrina Davies, a Director at Greener Practice CIC, to this year’s conference. Katrina will deliver a morning plenary presentation before joining the afternoon panel discussion on active travel, air pollution and the role of the sector in creating healthier, cleaner and more active communities.

Greener Practice may have its roots in healthcare, but its work speaks directly to the challenges and opportunities facing the sports, leisure and physical activity sector. Its focus on prevention, health creation, nature, active travel, lower carbon practice, air quality and community-based wellbeing reflects many of the same conversations now taking place across our sector.

For too long, climate action has been framed as a technical issue. Carbon reporting, energy efficiency, procurement, buildings and operational plans all matter, but they are only part of the story. The bigger question is how we create the conditions for people to live healthier lives, in places that support movement, connection, resilience and wellbeing.

Across the country, healthcare professionals are seeing the consequences of poor air quality, inactivity, extreme weather, unequal access to green space and long-term pressure on public services. At the same time, they understand that prevention cannot be delivered by healthcare alone. Health is shaped in homes, streets, parks, schools, workplaces, leisure centres, community spaces and everyday journeys.

Greener Practice encourages healthcare professionals to think differently about the relationship between health, climate and community. Its work supports practical action to reduce emissions, but it also champions the wider conditions that help people to live well. That includes social prescribing, nature-based solutions, active travel, parkrun, green social prescribing, cleaner air and stronger connections between healthcare, communities and the natural environment.

When people are supported to walk or cycle safely, air quality improves, carbon emissions reduce, and movement becomes part of daily life. When communities have better access to parks, green spaces, and nature, the benefits reach far beyond recreation. They support mental health, reduce isolation, encourage social connection and create more opportunities for people to be active. When local services, GP practices, leisure operators, charities, schools and community organisations work together, prevention becomes practical rather than theoretical.

Greener Practice has been at the forefront of helping healthcare professionals understand these links. Its work encourages practices and professionals to think differently about sustainability, not as an additional burden, but as part of better, more person-centred care. That includes reducing carbon emissions, supporting green social prescribing, encouraging physical activity, engaging with parkrun, improving awareness of air pollution, and helping the NHS become greener in ways that also improve health outcomes.

The sports and physical activity sector has a vital role to play in supporting a healthier and more sustainable future. We are not simply providers of facilities, programmes or events. We are part of the wider prevention system. We help people move more, connect with others, access nature, build confidence, improve mental wellbeing and reduce pressure on health services.

Participation does not happen in a vacuum. It is shaped by the streets people walk down, the air they breathe, the green space they can reach, the transport choices available to them and the confidence they feel in their local area. A well-designed, healthy environment can make activity feel natural, safe and accessible. A poor one can quietly narrow people’s choices before they have even reached a park, leisure centre, sports club or community session. As climate change brings more extreme weather, pressure on facilities and disruption to everyday life, the link between environment, participation and health becomes impossible to ignore.

Dr Katrina Davies. Director, Greener Practice

Katrina’s contribution to the Green Goals Conference will help bring these issues together. Her perspective as a GP, climate leader and Director at Greener Practice will challenge us to think beyond organisational boundaries and ask a bigger question: how do we build places and systems that help people and planet thrive together?

Healthcare cannot solve inactivity alone. The physical activity sector cannot address health inequalities in isolation. Environmental sustainability cannot be delivered through carbon plans alone. The real opportunity sits in the spaces between these agendas, where prevention, participation, nature, clean air, active travel and community wellbeing come together.

The Green Goals Conference will provide a platform for that conversation. It will bring together people from sport, leisure, health, sustainability, local government, community organisations and the private sector to explore how environmental responsibility can support healthier lives.

Katrina Davies and Greener Practice bring an essential voice to that discussion. Their work reminds us that a greener future is not just about reducing harm. It is about creating healthier communities, supporting prevention, reconnecting people with nature, and giving more people the opportunity to live active, fulfilling lives.

That is a message our sector should not only listen to, but also act upon.