Asia-Europe Foundation Public Health Network (ASEF PHN)
EVENT
From Principle to Practice:
Operationalising One Health for Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Asia and Europe
15-16 Oct 2026, Munich, Germany
Scope & Purpose
The conditions that determine whether an infectious disease emerges and spreads are largely set outside the health sector — by climate variability, changes in land use, the state of food and water systems, and the movement of people and goods. Public health institutions are held accountable for the outcomes, but they control few of the inputs. Working across sectoral boundaries and using evidence generated by other disciplines is therefore a condition of doing the job effectively, rather than an optional addition to it.
Climate change is what makes this urgent now. Global warming has extended the geographic and altitudinal range of disease vectors, changes in rainfall and flooding are raising waterborne disease risks, and where settlement and agriculture push into previously undisturbed habitats, the opportunities for zoonotic spillover increase. None of this is a projection: it is already showing up in surveillance data in both regions. The principle behind One Health, that human, animal and environmental health are connected, is by now widely accepted; what remains difficult is putting it into practice — working arrangements between ministries that function beyond the signing of a memorandum, data systems that health authorities can meaningfully use in their routine work, and national frameworks that set out responsibilities among institutions. Progress across Asia and Europe has been uneven, and preparedness tends to fail in the space between what has been committed to and what is actually being done.
In 2026, the Asia-Europe Foundation Public Health Network (ASEF PHN) is adopting One Health as the multi-year framework for its work and will convene From Principle to Practice: Operationalising One Health for Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Asia and Europe in Munich, Germany, together with host partner the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and knowledge partner the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute. Day One is dedicated to the general operationalisation of One Health, examining global frameworks alongside practical case studies of cross-sectoral governance. Day Two applies that operational lens to the specific intersection of climate change and Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).
Objectives
The primary goal of this dialogue is to move One Health from stated principle to working practice, and to build a comparative bi-regional picture of how climate change is reshaping infectious disease risk in Asia and Europe. The meeting will serve as a platform for exchange between the two regions, with a particular focus on the institutional arrangements, data systems and surveillance capacities that operationalisation actually requires.
Specific objectives of the meeting are:
- To establish a shared understanding of what the operationalisation of One Health requires in practice, examining emerging global frameworks, including the recommendations of the Lancet One Health Commission, alongside case studies of cross-sectoral governance from Asian and European contexts;
- To develop a comparative picture of how climate change is altering infectious disease risks across Asia and Europe, and of what this demands of surveillance, preparedness and policy frameworks built around historical disease patterns;
- To facilitate structured knowledge exchange on how different countries are currently experiencing and responding to climate-driven disease threats, surfacing good practices and identifying where gaps in preparedness, surveillance and cross-sectoral coordination remain; and
- To strengthen multisectoral networks between Asian and European policymakers, researchers and public health practitioners working at the intersection of climate change and infectious disease.
Target Audience
The meeting will target the following audiences: i) government officials responsible for public health emergency preparedness, surveillance and One Health coordination; ii) government officials from sectors outside health whose work bears directly on infectious disease risk; and iii) representatives from civil society, including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), International Organisations (IOs), academia, and research institutions working on climate-health linkages.
More specifically, the meeting will aim to engage:
- Senior-level officials, advisors and/or other decision-makers from ASEM Partners’ Ministries of Health or equivalent national public health agencies;
- Officials responsible for national One Health coordination mechanisms, surveillance systems and health emergency preparedness;
- Senior-level officials, advisors and/or other decision-makers from ASEM Partners’ Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Climate and other related Ministries whose remit bears on infectious disease risk;
- Researchers and specialists from research institutes, universities and think tanks working on climate-health linkages and emerging infectious diseases; and
- Representatives of NGOs and IOs engaged in infectious disease preparedness, climate adaptation, or the intersection of the two.
Reflecting the principle that operationalising One Health depends on the sectors outside health as much as those within it, the meeting is designed for genuine multisectoral participation, with balanced representation from Asian and European ASEM Partner countries.
Expected Outcome
The meeting will foster the exchange of good practices and lessons identified on operationalising One Health across Asia and Europe and will produce a comparative view of how the two regions are adapting surveillance, preparedness and policy frameworks to climate-driven changes in disease risk. The outcomes of the meeting will be summarised in a short report that includes key recommendations for national and cross-sectoral action on climate change and emerging infectious diseases.
About the joint high-level meeting
This event is via invitation only, and participants are required to register prior to the meeting.
Organizers
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Health Network
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)[1], founded in 1997, is an intergovernmental not-for-profit organisation representing the 53 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)[2] Partners: 30 European and 21 Asian countries, plus the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. Following the 6th ASEM Summit (ASEM6; 2006; Helsinki, Finland) where the leaders expressed their determination to combat avian influenza and a possible human influenza pandemic, the “ASEM Initiative for the Rapid Containment of Pandemic Influenza”, financially supported by the Government of Japan, was launched at the 9th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM FMM9; 2009; Hanoi, Viet Nam). Since then, the two components of the Initiative, ASEM stockpile of anti-viral drugs and personal protective equipment, as well as ASEF Public Health Network (ASEF PHN) have contributed to strengthening ASEM Partners’ capacity for managing Public Health Emergencies (PHEs).
ASEF’s contribution is made possible with the financial support from the Government of Japan.
