Periodic Reporting for period 5 - One Health EJP (Promoting One Health in Europe through joint actions on foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging microbiological hazards.)
Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31
The One Health European Joint Programme (One Health EJP) is a unique international, multidisciplinary collaboration between 43 public health, food safety and veterinary research institutes from across Europe. It was launched in January 2018 with the primary objective of working with the One Health concept to address current and future issues surrounding public health, animal health and environmental health related to food safety.
At the heart of the partnership is to deliver important multisectoral research to attain optimal health and wellbeing outcomes for humans, animals and the environment. We do this in close connection with the related European and national authorities responsible for public health and risk analysis. As a consortium, we have established strong links to both national and international stakeholders and through the One Health EJP we have opened up opportunities to inform policy change.
The One Health EJP is a policy driven research network allowing national, European and international risk managers and policy makers to further improve the food safety conditions and related human and animal health issues.
The One Health EJP aims to address the following:
- The need to strengthen the links between human health (“Med”), animal health (“Vet”) and environmental aspects using a 'One Health' approach;
- The need to further integrate surveillance and response capacities, preventive approaches, detection systems as well as preparedness and response to disease outbreaks;
- The need to strengthen collaboration between public organisations with public and animal health and food safety mandates, across the Med-Vet interface, through joint projects aimed at research and integration, and through education and training activities;
- The need to foster interaction between European, national authorities and stakeholders;
- The need to update policy makers on these achievements and, built on this knowledge, to take appropriate action.
At the heart of the partnership is to deliver important multisectoral research to attain optimal health and wellbeing outcomes for humans, animals and the environment. We do this in close connection with the related European and national authorities responsible for public health and risk analysis. As a consortium, we have established strong links to both national and international stakeholders and through the One Health EJP we have opened up opportunities to inform policy change.
The One Health EJP is a policy driven research network allowing national, European and international risk managers and policy makers to further improve the food safety conditions and related human and animal health issues.
The One Health EJP aims to address the following:
- The need to strengthen the links between human health (“Med”), animal health (“Vet”) and environmental aspects using a 'One Health' approach;
- The need to further integrate surveillance and response capacities, preventive approaches, detection systems as well as preparedness and response to disease outbreaks;
- The need to strengthen collaboration between public organisations with public and animal health and food safety mandates, across the Med-Vet interface, through joint projects aimed at research and integration, and through education and training activities;
- The need to foster interaction between European, national authorities and stakeholders;
- The need to update policy makers on these achievements and, built on this knowledge, to take appropriate action.
OUR SCIENTIFIC STRATEGY
The direction, purpose and scope of our scientific strategy are determined by our Strategic Research Agenda. The SRA provides the basis for the One Health EJP scientific activities and is the starting point for both forging strategic interactions with other EU projects and initiatives and for developing a sustainable One Health strategy for the future, in close collaboration with ECDC and EFSA.
The SRA dictates our key research areas: foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging threats.
RESEARCH ALIGNMENT
At the heart of the One Health EJP are the 24 scientific research projects which are aligned with our Scientific Research Agenda. The research needs of our stakeholders are at the forefront of the consortium’s focus and all projects address the gaps in scientific knowledge in accordance with key priority research topics as mentioned in the SRA. This collaboration also strengthened our aims for enhancing transdisciplinary cooperation and integration of activities, building capacities, sharing methodologies, surveillance data, and the harmonisation of procedures.
INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES
Six Joint Integrative Projects are funded by the One Health EJP and serve as a foundation to increase knowledge for better outcomes and to foster strong collaborative relationships. Together with the cogwheel workshops that aim to reach out to relevant European scientific networks and other integrative activities, this creates an environment to potentially have a worldwide impact and can inform policy change nationally and internationally. The harmonisation and creation of tools that can be used across different health sectors will promote the use of a One Health approach to contribute to the prevention, preparedness, detection and response of threats to public health.
TRAINING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF ONE HEALTH SCIENTISTS
The innovative One Health EJP training and education programme aims to develop the One Health leaders of the future, in order to improve animal, human and environmental health. Education and Training is a fundamental component of the One Health EJP. We recognise that the next generation has new, innovative ideas and should be both supported and encouraged.
SCIENCE TO POLICY TRANSLATION
Stakeholder engagement is a fundamental aspect of any large project such as the One Health EJP. When writing our Strategic Research Agenda, national stakeholders and ECDC and EFSA were consulted to ensure that our outcomes add value and address the identified priority One Health challenges in the EU.
We ensure that all of the One Health EJP’s scientific outcomes reach the right audiences through our targeted dissemination activities to help drive forward the translation of science to policy. Dialogue with our stakeholders is a productive activity, and our stakeholders have developed strong collaborative relationships with many of our projects.
SUSTAINABILITY AT OUR CORE
One Health EJP is the ongoing EU scientific action focussed on One Health; ensuring its long-term sustainability means to extend supporting the development of a cutting-edge One Health, able to tackle emerging issues and the complexity of human-animal-environment relationships. The One Health EJP continues to foster strong relationships and create a solid basis to maintain, improve and consolidate integrative actions beyond the lifetime of the project in a sustainable way. Our focus on sustainability explores ways to sustain long-term One Health research and innovation.
The direction, purpose and scope of our scientific strategy are determined by our Strategic Research Agenda. The SRA provides the basis for the One Health EJP scientific activities and is the starting point for both forging strategic interactions with other EU projects and initiatives and for developing a sustainable One Health strategy for the future, in close collaboration with ECDC and EFSA.
The SRA dictates our key research areas: foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging threats.
RESEARCH ALIGNMENT
At the heart of the One Health EJP are the 24 scientific research projects which are aligned with our Scientific Research Agenda. The research needs of our stakeholders are at the forefront of the consortium’s focus and all projects address the gaps in scientific knowledge in accordance with key priority research topics as mentioned in the SRA. This collaboration also strengthened our aims for enhancing transdisciplinary cooperation and integration of activities, building capacities, sharing methodologies, surveillance data, and the harmonisation of procedures.
INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES
Six Joint Integrative Projects are funded by the One Health EJP and serve as a foundation to increase knowledge for better outcomes and to foster strong collaborative relationships. Together with the cogwheel workshops that aim to reach out to relevant European scientific networks and other integrative activities, this creates an environment to potentially have a worldwide impact and can inform policy change nationally and internationally. The harmonisation and creation of tools that can be used across different health sectors will promote the use of a One Health approach to contribute to the prevention, preparedness, detection and response of threats to public health.
TRAINING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF ONE HEALTH SCIENTISTS
The innovative One Health EJP training and education programme aims to develop the One Health leaders of the future, in order to improve animal, human and environmental health. Education and Training is a fundamental component of the One Health EJP. We recognise that the next generation has new, innovative ideas and should be both supported and encouraged.
SCIENCE TO POLICY TRANSLATION
Stakeholder engagement is a fundamental aspect of any large project such as the One Health EJP. When writing our Strategic Research Agenda, national stakeholders and ECDC and EFSA were consulted to ensure that our outcomes add value and address the identified priority One Health challenges in the EU.
We ensure that all of the One Health EJP’s scientific outcomes reach the right audiences through our targeted dissemination activities to help drive forward the translation of science to policy. Dialogue with our stakeholders is a productive activity, and our stakeholders have developed strong collaborative relationships with many of our projects.
SUSTAINABILITY AT OUR CORE
One Health EJP is the ongoing EU scientific action focussed on One Health; ensuring its long-term sustainability means to extend supporting the development of a cutting-edge One Health, able to tackle emerging issues and the complexity of human-animal-environment relationships. The One Health EJP continues to foster strong relationships and create a solid basis to maintain, improve and consolidate integrative actions beyond the lifetime of the project in a sustainable way. Our focus on sustainability explores ways to sustain long-term One Health research and innovation.
The One Health EJP has now been operating for five years and has funded 24 collaborative research projects, 6 collaborative integrative projects, 17 PhD projects, all addressing the priorities as set in the Strategic Research Agenda on foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging zoonotic threats. We have a two way open dialogue with our national stakeholders issued from the line Ministries of the One Health EJP partners organisations and with the following European and international stakeholders: ECDC, EFSA, completed in 2020 by EMA, EEA, WHO-Europe, FAO and WOAH. Additionally, a One Health Outcome Inventory database has been created and is publicly available. To date more than 240 publications have been published from the One Health EJP projects and are available on our website and on zenodo. A specific data management plan is also available for each of our projects.
The One Health EJP is also committed to extending its European Public Health and Animal Health network. We achieved this at the start of 2021 by expanding our consortium to 6 new members and thus contributing to create a larger European One Health network.
Lastly, the One Health EJP has a strong focus on sustainability. To this end, we are developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, which will focus on the future of One Health research for the forthcoming decade.
The One Health EJP is also committed to extending its European Public Health and Animal Health network. We achieved this at the start of 2021 by expanding our consortium to 6 new members and thus contributing to create a larger European One Health network.
Lastly, the One Health EJP has a strong focus on sustainability. To this end, we are developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, which will focus on the future of One Health research for the forthcoming decade.