OneHealth/EcoHealth survey - integrated health frameworks

The importance of human health interlinkages with nature and the environment in general has gained attention in science, policy and society at large. The recent (2015) State of Knowledge review of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) addresses the diversity and complexity of the interlinkage between biodiversity and human health and the opportunities and challenges that go with it. In order to better address all (or subsets of) interrelated aspects in an integrated/holistic manner, several integrative frameworks were developed over time.

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The CDB-WHO State of Knowledge review refers to several of these, such as OneHealth, EcoHealth, the ecosystem approach and One Medicine. One of the key messages from the review to the scientific and policy community and society at large is promotion of the OneHealth concept as a common framework under which all these (other) relevant integrative frameworks can be connected. In a recent CBD parties meeting (SBSTTA November 2015) this CBD-WHO recommendation (among other) was adopted. This means that CBD parties, among which quite some European countries, support the OneHealth concept for the mentioned integration ambitions, and in the near future will have to report to the CBD on state of the art and progress.

In the European OneHealth/EcoHealth workshop we aim to support these ambitions. In order to not limit our focus beforehand, we explicitly combine the OneHealth and the EcoHealth concepts, illustrating that we aim to go beyond narrow and restricted framings of integrative concepts. In the workshop we will rather focus on connections and build bridges rather than fences. We will bring together people from different communities in science, policy and practice to exchange experience and views, and discuss opportunities and challenges for integration and practice. Experienced OneHealth/EcoHealth experts, networks and projects from different countries within Europe but also beyond, like developing countries in the South, will contribute to the workshop, as will representatives from the CDB-WHO State of Knowledge review.

The program of the workshop provides a combination of topical and generic integrative sessions. In the topical sessions, specialists can exchange experiences from their specialized fields and projects, whilst also addressing the generic OneHealth perspective. In the generic OneHealth part of the program all participants will jointly discuss experiences, opportunities and challenges surpassing more restricted topical foci. This will also build upon a survey that will precede the workshop in which a wide range of relevant experts from science, policy and societal practice will be consulted to give their perspective on the OneHealth ambition. Together we aim to formulate key lessons learned and key steps forward messages.