CA25122 - Systems Thinking for One Health implementation (SystOHm)

The One Health approach has gained substantial political and scientific attention since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the interconnected threats to human, animal, and ecosystem health. Challenges such as ecosystem degradation, food insecurity, pollution, emerging diseases and the climate crisis underline the urgent need for intersectoral, interdisciplinary and participatory solutions to these complex and intertwined issues. However, methods to tackle such multifaceted health challenges are weakly developed and disparate, hampering One Health implementation. The SystOHm COST Action addresses this methodological challenge by building on systems thinking, an approach widely recognized as a cornerstone of One Health, which however has proven challenging for stakeholders to adopt. SystOHm bridges the gap between research and implementation by identifying needs, critically reviewing current systems thinking methods, elaborating guidance, and pilot-testing innovative methods or combinations thereof. Furthermore, it mobilizes the bridging quality of systems thinking to nurture mutual understanding and enhance transdisciplinary collaborations. Drawing on a broad range of disciplines and stakeholders, SystOHm seeks to provide practical and harmonized methodological guidance as well as a collaborative environment conducive to knowledge sharing and co-creation. It commits to engage both researchers and implementers to shape One Health in practice, fostering fit-for-purpose methods for impactful solutions. By establishing a robust and wide collaborative network, SystOHm lays the groundwork for future partnerships, benefiting both researchers and implementers across a variety of contexts. It nurtures the next generation of researchers, empowering them to develop excellence anchored in systems thinking, and to position themselves as leaders in One Health implementation.