BeOH - Ecosystems in the Balance - Supporting future policy and research

Sciensano is organising the event ‘BeOH — Ecosystems in Balance — Supporting Future Policy and Research’ in collaboration with the Belgian Biodiversity platform (BBPf), the FPS Public Health and the Belgian One Health Network (BeOH). 

This One Health event will take an interdisciplinary approach to issues relating to ecosystems, animals and public health, focusing on the following points

• the role of environmental factors in influencing possible pathways for the emergence of infectious diseases
• and prevention, early warning mechanisms and effective preparedness solutions.

The event will bring together interdisciplinary experts from a wide range of scientific fields, both national and international, to provide cutting-edge knowledge on the role of environmental factors and (disruption of) ecosystems in the context of One Health. It will not only inform policy and recommended future research, but also break down divides and support new trans- and inter-disciplinary collaborations.

Registration

Register before 10 January 2025

Poster submission 

To submit a poster for this event, please full out the submission form. Before submitting your poster, please don’t forget to read the concept note for more information about the focus of this event. 

Deadline for poster submissions is Wednesday, 8 January 2025. 

Program

Day 1 — 22 January 

08:30  Registration and coffee

09:00  Event opening 

09:05  Welcome address 

Session 1 — Biodiversity loss and Climate Change

09:15  Keynote - Integrated Approaches to Health: The Place of One Health and its Future | Prof Dr Jakob Zinsstag, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)

10:00  One Health in Action: Balancing Livelihoods, Livestock, and Ecosystems Health in Central Asia | Dr. Stephane Ostrowski, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

10:30  Coffee break & poster session 

11:00  Environmental stressors and infectious diseases in the Arctic | Prof. Dr Jacques Godfroid, UiT — The Arctic University of Norway

11:30  Climate and Biodiversity Crises: Threats to Human and Animal Health in Belgium and Beyond | MSc Pablo Sagredo Martín, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

12:00  ‘Your climate change is not my climate change’: An eco-health perspective on research at the cutting edge of urbanization, climate change and health | MSc Stefanie Dens, Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM)

12:30  Lunch break & poster session

Session 2 — Impact of Wildlife trade and risks associated with Invasive Alien Species

14:00  Keynote : A regional and global perspective on pathogens at the animal-human-environmental interface | Prof. Dr Sascha Knauf, Institute of International Animal Health/One Health, Friedrich Loeffler Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald — Insel Riems and Justus-Liebig-University

14:45  Reducing health risks in wildlife trade through a multidimensional approach | Dr. Michael Nagel, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

15:15  Operationalising a One Health approach in wildlife trade and disease risk management | MSc Justine Guiny, TRAFFIC

15:45  Coffee break & poster session 

16:15  Integrating Invasion science and One health : a pathway to more effective and sustainable management of health and ecological challenges | Dr Sonia Vanderhoeven, Belgian Biodiversity Platform

16:45  The management of biological invasions within the One Health concept | MSc Riccardo Scalera, IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)

17:15  End of Day 1 

Day 2 — 23 January 

Session 3 — Data and surveillance 

09:00  Keynote - Preventing the emergence of zoonoses: from modeling of pathogen transmission to implementation of public policies | Dr Benjamin Roche, French Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD)

09:45  Making sense of complexity — The role of AI in advancing One Health | M. Didier Verloo, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

10:15  Global biodiversity data as a resource for vector-borne disease research and policy | Prof. Dr Sylvie Manguin, French Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD)

10:45  Coffee break

11:15  Land systems data, pathogen vector data, are we on the same page ? | Prof. Dr Sophie Vanwambeke, UCLouvain

11:45  Wildlife in focus: sources or victims of emerging zoonotic diseases? The importance of wildlife disease surveillance | Prof. Dr Dolores Gavier-Widén, Swedish Veterinary Agency

12:15  Lunch break

Session 4 — Workshops and Panel discussion

13:15  Practical information on the afternoon activities
13:45  Parallel workshops                                                                          Pitch presentation of selected posters

•      Workshop 1 : Biodiversity loss    
•      Workshop 2 : Climate change    
•      Workshop 3 : Wildlife trade    
•      Workshop 4 : Invasive Alien Species    
•      Workshop 5 : Surveillance    

15:15  Coffee break    
15:45  Panel discussion    
16:45  Wrap-up    
17:00  End of Day 2