©
Christian Corral
STICS: Smart Transformation and Innovation Consortium Slovakia
- EU Research Project -
2025-2027
One Health City
Inside the STICS consortium of 14 partners, our team is developing the One Health City Framework (OHCF) to apply the concept of One Health of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to urban environments. The central proposition is that human health in cities is inseparably enmeshed with ecosystem health in cities. Therefore, a city is only as healthy as its constituent parts, in the same way that a living organism depends on the functional integrity of each of its cells. The OHCF should serve as a spatial diagnostic and planning instrument, supporting the development of more sustainable, equal and ecologically integrated cities. The structure of the framework aligns with international guidelines of the WHO, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.
Inside the OHCF, we propose a One Health City Index (OHCI). It is designed as a simplified index to evaluate urban health conditions based on spatial and environmental conditions using open-source data. The Index operates at multiple scales — from the individual building to the city as a whole — enabling the identification of spatial deficiencies and the prioritisation of interventions with the greatest potential benefit for both human populations and ecological systems.
We hope that the OHCF can help cities identify and address One Health deficiencies and opportunities for a more inclusive and sustainable urban development.
