I am elated to welcome you in the new, post-pandemic digital edition of MEPIELAN E-Bulletin. Τhe refurbished digital edition of the 13 years-old Bulletin and the upgraded continuation of its academic and practitioner platform, providing a knowledge- and information-sharing forum that is hosting innovative ideas and a wide spectrum of  scholarly views, reflects a first level response of the Bulletin to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

While the pandemic has been a devastating global event, bringing about significant negative consequences for all of us and at various levels, one can also trace a positive motivational aspect of its impact, directly related to the way we approach, comprehend, and manage the neglected or downgraded richness of the working interdependence of nature, human health and sustainability. Serving as a wake-up call, the pandemic reminded us of the crucial role that nature plays in supporting our well-being and the need for a more participatory, sustainable approach to our actions. In fact, and in a dramatic way, the pandemic has demonstrated the critical link between human health and the health of our environment, and compelled us, by recognizing the interlinkage between ecological integrity and human health, to promote more sustainable normative processes and practices that safeguard both.

We have become increasingly conscious of the catalytic effect of ingraining rights-based approaches, participatory processes, inclusive and equitable considerations in shaping governance and pursuing the implementation of the interdependence of nature, human health and sustainability. More importantly, we are challenged to transform societal, government and expert thinking into a more consistent relational, holistic, process and contextual understanding in comprehending, discussing and collectively managing current and emerging aspects of this interdependence.