Evaluating the Contributions of one health initiatives to social sustainability

One Health is an approach that integrates perspectives from human, animal and environmental

health to address health challenges. As the idea of One Health is grounded in achieving

sustainable outcomes, an important aspect is the contribution of One Health to social

sustainability. In this chapter we ask, what social sustainability is, what the indicators of social

sustainability related to One Health are, and, through what measures we can evaluate the

contributions of One Health to social sustainability, in terms of its operations, its supporting

infrastructures and outcomes. We adopt a wider conceptualization of social sustainability

and propose an approach based on basic needs, capabilities and emancipation, environmental

justice, solidarity and social cohesion. First, we identify indicators used in literature to

capture social sustainability in human, animal and environmental health and propose ways

to integrate them into a framework for the evaluation of One Health initiatives. Second,

we formulate questions that can be used to evaluate the social sustainability of One Health

initiatives. Third, we discuss the viability of operationalising the indicators, the trade-offs

that might arise and identify how they can be minimised. We then discuss methodological

issues and highlight the importance of transdisciplinary deliberative approaches for adapting

the framework to specific contexts.