Sustainability Matters: Guiding Principles for Sustainability in Occupational Therapy Practice, Education and Scholarship

Introduction The environment (context of occupational performance) has always been a focus for occupational therapists. Recently, sustainability has become a key occupational therapy topic (Swedish Association of Occupational Therapists 2012, College of Occupational Therapists 2013). Following the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2012) position statement on environmental sustainability, it is timely for WFOT to provide curricula guidelines in ‘Sustainability Matters: Guiding Principles on Sustainable Development’. This addresses the relevance of sustainable development to human occupational performance, making it part of occupational therapy’s professional scope. It follows a wider global awareness of sustainability amongst health professions and governmental organisations, and the recognition that “climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century” (UCL-Lancet Commission 2009, p.1659) affecting all human populations.