Abstract
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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.