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EcoHealth 9, 371373, 2012 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-013-0812-z
2013 The Author(s)
Editorial
Convergence of Ecohealth and One Health
Interest and participation in EcoHealth and One Health approaches have grown considerably over the past decade. Clearly, the two approaches have many similarities and strive for similar outcomes, and collaboration between them holds great potential value. Convergence of the two approaches could avoid repetition, strengthening both communities yet still highlighting the unique attributes of each approach. In 2011 Margot Parkes, then President of the International Association for Ecology and Health (EcoHealth), called for critical reection on directions for ecohealth as a transdisciplinary eld positioned among converging efforts (Parkes 2012). Building on this, seventeen of us engaged in further discussion about the convergence between One Health and Ecohealth at the 4th biennial EcoHealth conference this past October. We represent veterinary medicine, public health, ecology and several other disciplines, geographic locations, and both Ecohealth and One Health experiences. We present our deliberations and insights on two questions: Where and how can the two concepts converge? What is their common ground and where can they live happily apart?
OF ECOHEALTH AND ONE HEALTH
Several conceptual and foundational papers on One Health and Ecohealth frame our discussion. Ecohealth, as represented by the IAEH, strives for sustainable health of people, animals, and ecosystems by promoting discovery and understanding through transdisciplinary action-research. It encourages problem solving that draws upon multiple types of knowledge from the natural, social and health sciences, and the humanities (IAEH ratied constitution 2008, http://www.ecohealth.net
Web End =www.ecohealth.net). Others have documented the evolution of the eld of ecohealth (Parkes 2012 in this
journal). Still others have focused on elucidating principles fundamental to engaging in ecohealth research in a development context, for example: a systemic approach, tackling complex, non-linear problems quantitatively and qualitatively; a transdisciplinary approach that engages stakeholder participation; attention to environmental sustainability, and to gender and social equity; and transforming knowledge into action (Charron 2012).
The contemporary One Health approach recognises that the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems is intimately connected and involves a coordinated, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral approach to addressing a wide range of risks at the animalhuman ecosystem interface. Embracing the Manhattan...