Page - 337 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

337 15.2.3 European One Health/Ecohealth Workshop 15.2.3.1 Introduction The European OneHealth/EcoHealth (OH/EH) workshop took place in 2016  in Brussels (Keune et  al. 2017). The organization was coordinated by the Belgian Community of Practice Biodiversity and Health (see also below), and involved a diversity of organizations, including NEOH, CBD and WHO.  The workshop aimed at facilitating reflection and exchange, mapping future avenues and supporting collaboration of working on the linkages of biodiversity and human health, or linkages within an OH framework. The general objective of the workshop was to foster collaboration between OH/EH and related concepts and communities that endeavor to combine ecosystem, animal and human health, and to build bridges between science, policy and practice active in the domain of nature and health. Given the similarities in their objectives to create synergies between health benefits for humans, animals and the environment, the OH and EH concepts appear to be supported by converging communities, working towards a shift from narrow and restricted frameworks towards systems approaches. The two approaches have different origins: EH stems more from a sustainable health action research perspective, and OH more from a human and animal health expert collaboration perspective. Still, the two approaches are united in emphasising “a holistic understanding of health beyond the purely biomedical” and championing “systems thinking as a way of achieving a greater understanding of health problems, and both espouse inter- and trans-disciplinary research and collaborative participation” (Keune et  al. 2017). 15.2.3.2 Main Activities Over 100 experts from different professional backgrounds (science, policy and practice) and different fields of expertise contributed to the workshop. They included natural scientists, animal and human health scientists, as well as social scientists, policy representatives from national governments and the EU, and experts working in Europe, but also in other regions in the world. The workshop programme featured a combination of specific topics and generic integrative sessions. In the topical sessions, participants exchanged experiences and views from their fields and projects, whilst exposing the arguments for and possible ways to apply the One Health perspective in their areas of expertise. Such a broad range of issues was selected in order to reflect the diversity of thematic areas presented in the CBD– WHO State of Knowledge Review as well as the cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary challenges faced by the OH community. 15 European Nature and  Health Network Initiatives