Prof Dr David Martin participates in international open access volume on sustainable development

Prof Dr David Martin from the Institute for Integrative Medicine at Witten/Herdecke University has contributed a scientific article to the international open access edited volume On the Earth We Want to Live. Anthroposophy's Contributions to Sustainable Development. The volume was published by Springer Verlag in December 2025 and is dedicated to the question of what contribution anthroposophically inspired approaches can make to sustainable development.

The edited volume analyses conceptual foundations, historical developments and current fields of practice in agriculture, education, business and medicine. The aim is to provide an interdisciplinary categorisation of anthroposophical perspectives in the context of current sustainability debates.

Socio-ecological medicine as a research approach

In the chapter "Socio-ecological Medicine - An Anthroposophical Approach" (pp. 225-235), David Martin and Georg Soldner examine the theoretical and practical foundations of socio-ecological medicine. The article combines medical, ethical and sustainability-related issues and discusses the extent to which health concepts can contribute to overcoming ecological and social challenges.

The approach builds on impulses from Rudolf Steiner and is placed in relation to current discourses on resilience, patient autonomy, overmedicalisation and ecological responsibility. Discussions include non-drug therapies, prevention, patient-centred care and the role of nutrition and lifestyle in the context of sustainable healthcare systems.

The article understands socio-ecological medicine as an integrative approach that systematically links the physical, psychological and social dimensions of health with sustainability issues. The Chair thus positions itself at the intersection of health care research, medical theory and sustainability science.

Interdisciplinary embedding - practical examples from business, agriculture, education and medicine

The edited volume also makes references to fields such as biodynamic agriculture (including in the context of the Demeter certification standard), socio-ecologically orientated pedagogy and sustainable economic models. This interdisciplinary perspective emphasises the connectivity of medical issues to broader transformation debates.

Among others, organisations and companies that implement anthroposophical principles in their work are presented - including Weleda, the Freie Gemeinschaftsbank and manufacturers such as Sonett, Voelkel and Stockmar. International initiatives such as SEKEM in Egypt and Monte Azul in Brazil also illustrate specific socio-ecological development models.

The book also focuses on biodynamic agriculture as the first method of organic farming and its certification standard Demeter. In addition, 100 years of socio-ecologically orientated Waldorf education and perspectives of an associative economy inspired by anthroposophy are presented

Open Access

You can download the PDF of the book free of charge from Springer Verlag. 
Download link: https:// link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-98758-8