Translating Science into Policy: A Multisectoral Approach to Adaptation and Mitigation of Adverse Effects of Vector-Borne Diseases, Environmental Pollution and Climate Change on Planetary Health

Project Information

PLANET4HEALTH

Grant agreement ID: 101136652

DOI

10.3030/101136652

EC signature date 1 December 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Health

Total cost

€ 5 925 130,00

EU contribution

€ 5 925 130,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PLANET4HEALTH (Translating Science into Policy: A Multisectoral Approach to Adaptation and Mitigation of Adverse Effects of Vector-Borne Diseases, Environmental Pollution and Climate Change on Planetary Health)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

PLANET4Health provides new knowledge and tools on environment degradation and its impact on human animal and ecosystems health. PLANET4health will develop collaborations from a large variety of organizations from the: environmental and climate science, public health, epidemiology, veterinary medicine, social, political and economic science, engineering, law and ethics, and communication, to produce solid knowledge and tools to facilitate learning and practice on the interaction between the natural system and human health. Four tailor-made case studies will be performed: 1) One Health effects of vector-borne diseases, 2) air pollution, 3) food contamination arising from soil and water contamination, 4) mental wellbeing linked to environmental and climate stressors, in different geographical area thanks to the large project network, that will draw universal conclusions and replicable solutions to improve the predictive capability and preparedness. The consortium will produce research, technological innovation, tailored outreach and training, and policy solutions through a cross-sectorial multidisciplinary scientific collaboration in line with the transnational character of planetary health. For these aims the project will: a) collect, organize and assure open availability of new and already existing data on climate and environmental indicators linked to One Health; b) carry out analyses on data and build innovative, inter-operable and multifunctional digital prototypes; c) produce new knowledge and tools to support One Health policies by applying social science theories and involving citizens, policymakers and stakeholders; d) offer open-access data, tools and research material to public authorities for decision making and academic research for further study.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the reporting period the progress of project’s scientific and technical actions was mainly achieved through activities related to Case Studies (CSs) 1 and 2. Specifically, project partners collected, (re)created, and standardised human and animal health data, and environmental and climate records needed for analysis and modelling of CSs 1 and 2, while preparations for data collection, (re)creation and standardization have started for CSs 3 and 4. Appropriate methodological frameworks for environmental and climate approaches to analysis and modelling for planetary health were defined for CSs 1 and 2 and the work on analyses and modelling of interdependencies between the relevant environmental degradation and climate changes and related emerging human and animal health problems in CSs 1 an d 2 is ongoing. The preparatory work for the development of technological platforms and digital tools has been finalized, through the consultatory and co-creation work in T2.1 and design and technological preparation in T2.2 for CSs 1 and 2, as is the preparatory work for the initiation of the use of the mobile phone technology to perform assessment of exposure and subjective wellbeing in environmental contexts of CSs 1 and 2. Proposal for the outline and definition of applications of machine learning (ML) and AI for correlation (interdependencies) studies for all CSs has been finalized.

The socio-economic analysis has been performed for CS 1, and is ongoing for CS 2. First review of existing planetary health and One Health policies has been finalized and shared with project partners and with the Planetary Health Cluster.

Active co-creation and collaboration between all the different actors involved in public health or veterinary issues related to environmental damage and climate change exposure and hazards of all the project’s CSs took place during the entire reporting period. In that context the project PEUs taskforce has been established, to organize and foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the end users and other stakeholders. As a preparation for the development of training and communication content to boost PEUs' capacity to deliver effective action intensive communications are underway between projects communication partners and PEUs.

Clustering activities, as part of the work in the Planetary Health Cluster were very intensive, since the project was co-coordinating the work of the cluster since its initiation.

The assessment of the overall project ethics, data protection and management, privacy, and representativeness and generalizability concerns, together with safeness and trustworthiness of used methods (including ML and AI) has been initialized at the beginning of the project and is a continuous effort, as part of the tasks T5.3 and T5.4. This work to date mostly relates to data protection issues of CSs 1 and 2. The theoretical basis for proper intellectual property rights (IPR) management was set at the end of the reporting period, to be further developed and expanded when project’s first results and tools are available.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project main scientific results and technological platforms and achievements have not been realized yet. During the reporting period the project activates were aimed at preparation to produce those results. In that respect:
1. The project partners collected or reconstructed disease vectors, pathogens and host distributions data, human and animal health records, environmental (air pollution, land-use, bioclimatic, and topographic variables), climate (microclimate, where available, past and present meteorology, short-time range weather forecasts and medium- and long-range projections), demographic, and socio-economic data for CSs 1 and 2. Those datasets are stored in the internal data storage space, where they are standardized and harmonized so as to be able to be shared externally during the project realization (such as, possibly, with sister projects in the Planetary Health Cluster), or be opened for use after the end of project realization;
2. Plans, policies, and procedures for data management (collection, storage, access, sharing, protection, retention, and destruction) during and after the end of the project were set and applied to CSs 1 and 2 datasets;
3. Methodological framework was defined for environmental and climate approaches to OneHealth in CSs 1 and 2;
4. Selection of ML conventions best fitted for project’s correlation dependencies studies in all CSs was finalized, with optimal algorithms identified for predictions of disease spread in real-time and forward projections under prevailing and plausible environmental and climate input conditions;
5. An open-source smartphone application, with a structured query language (SQL) database that triggers data collection, and a secure registration, has been prepared for mental wellbeing data collection;
6. First systematic review of relevant planetary health and One Health policies was produced.

Further uptake and success of project’s research and innovation at the time of this report does not seem to be hampered by any factor and is and will be constantly monitored during the next reporting period.

Image is a project poster, part of promotional kit, that outlines the project's idea and objectives

Example of the collaborative interactive whiteboard with the content provided during and after the C

Proposed landing page of the PLANET4HEALTH EWSs

The image is a poster of the PH cluster, which was developed as part of the PH cluster brochure.