Abstract
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.
Ifejika Speranza, Chinwe