In our Open Conversation “One Planet – One Health?” we want to explore the interdependence between climate change and disease epidemiology across species and ecosystems – a blind spot in medical thinking.
While the epidemiological impacts of climate change on human disease are increasingly well studied, far less attention has been paid to climate-related diseases in plants, despite their critical role in ecosystem stability and human livelihoods.
Without exaggeration, current approaches to health tend to focus more on human habits than on its habitats, highlighting the prevailing anthropocentric perspective in medical thinking and leaving out this fundamental driver behind disease emergence altogether.
In contrast, the One Health framework offers a holistic perspective by explicitly addressing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.
Building on this perspective, we want to discuss new challenges for medical thinking in times of climate change.
Format
The Open Conversation is organised as a dual-panel format, with one panel hosted at UCLouvain and the other at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Both panels are connected and interact with each other throughout the session, creating a shared transdisciplanery discussion space. Following short introductory inputs, the conversation will unfold as a moderated exchange between the two locations, encouraging dialogue across disciplines, institutions, and perspectives. Participants at both sites are invited to engage actively and contribute to the discussion.
Speakers
Panel UCLouvain:
- Cyril Caminade, Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
- Wim Van Bortel, Institute for Tropical Medicine Antwerp
- Emma Blindler, student of clinical psychology, Université Paris Cité
Panel Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin:
- Caroline Stokes, professor in Food and Health, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Anna Dechantsreiter, student of medicine at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Moderator:
- Marcel Robinschon, professor for agroecology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Convener:
- Pascal Grosse, Circle U. Global Health Chair, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Pietro Coletti, Circle U. Global Health Chair, UCLouvain
Venues
In Louvain-la-Neuve: Bibliothèque des Sciences sociales, politiques, économiques et de communication, Learning Center Andrée De Jonghe, Salle de Séminaire
In Berlin: Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 1/3, 10117 Berlin
