The Belgian One Health network, the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, and Sciensano are pleased to announce their 2-day in-person event:
Ecosystems in the balance
supporting future policy and research
This One Health event will address ecosystem, animal, and human health issues in an interdisciplinary way. The event will focus on the role of environmental factors influencing possible pathways of infectious disease emergence, and on prevention, early warning mechanisms, and effective preparedness solutions.
The overarching topics will be:
- Biodiversity loss and climate change
- Impact of wildlife trade
- Risks associated with Invasive Alien Species
- Data and surveillance approaches
The event is designed for experts and stakeholders interested in intersectoral cooperation, administrators, and policy makers.
Learn more here.
Practical
- Date: 22 and 23 January 2025
- Registration fee (non-refundable): €125 (€50 for PhD students)
- Venue: Herman Teirlinck, Havenlaan/Avenue du Port 88, 1000 Brussels
What to expect?
- Plenary sessions
- Parallel workshops
- Poster presentations
- Networking
Posters
To submit a poster for this event, please fill out the submission form here. Before submitting your poster, please read the concept note for more information about the focus of this event. Deadline for poster submissions is Wednesday, 8 January 2025.
Confirmed Speakers
Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change
- An integrated approach to ecosystems and climate change
Prof. Dr Jakob Zinsstag, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Allschwil, Switzerland - Environmental stressors and infectious diseases in the Arctic
Prof. Dr Jacques Godfroid, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway - Impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss globally and in Belgium on health and well-being of humans and animals
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (speaker tbd), Brussels, Belgium - ‘Your climate change is not my climate change’: An eco-health perspective
Eco-health group, Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, Belgium (speaker tbd)
Impact of Wildlife Trade and Risks Associated with Invasive Alien Species
- International perspective on pathogens at the wildlife-human interface with focus on ecosystem health
Prof. Dr Sascha Knauf, Friedrich Loeffler Institut (FLI), Riems, Germany - Science-policy and human-livestock-wildlife interfaces related to wildlife trade, One Health, and pandemic prevention
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Europe (speaker tbd), Brussels, Belgium - Operationalising a One Health approach in wildlife trade and disease risk management
Ms Justine Guiny, Senior Policy Manager TRAFFIC, Brussels, Belgium - 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, Brussels, Belgium - Alien pathogens and pathogens spread by Invasive Alien Species in Europe
M. Riccardo Scalera, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), Rome, Italy - Reducing health risks in wildlife trade through a multidimensional approach
Dr. Michael Nagel, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Bonn, Germany
Data and Surveillance
- 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), Montpellier, France - Making sense of complexity – The role of AI in advancing One Health
M. Didier Verloo, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy - Wildlife in focus: Sources or victims of emerging zoonotic diseases? The importance of wildlife surveillance
Prof. Dr Dolores Gavier-Widén, Swedish Veterinary Agency, Uppsala, Sweden - Global biodiversity data as a resource for vector-borne disease research and policy
Prof. Dr Sylvie Manguin, French Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France - Land systems data, pathogen vector data, are we on the same page?
Prof. Dr Sophie Vanwambeke, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Contact
If you have questions or need further information contact: BeOH@sciensano.be. Keep an eye on the website, and the social media channels.
