Advancing One Health Capacities: Developing Resilient Health Systems at the Ecosystem-Animal-Human Interface

The field of One Health is fundamentally concerned with the interconnectedness of human, animal, and ecosystem health and the challenges inherent in building systems that address threats spanning these domains. Despite wide endorsement of the One Health paradigm, there remain notable gaps in its operationalisation—particularly in efforts to build sustained, adaptable, and collaborative capacity across sectors. Current research highlights persistent obstacles related to siloed training, inconsistent governance arrangements, and insufficient mechanisms for cross-sectoral learning and resource mobilisation. Although promising models and institutional innovations have emerged, questions endure regarding how best to equip workforces, institutions, and communities to respond pre-emptively and adaptively to health challenges at this complex interface.

This Research Topic aims to deepen our understanding of how capacity strengthening—encompassing education, workforce development, organisational strengthening, and the creation of enabling environments—can be operationalised to realise the goals of One Health more fully. Specifically, it seeks to explore which strategies, structures, and partnerships most effectively embed One Health principles into practical, measurable interventions across ecosystem, animal, and human health systems. The objective is to identify critical barriers and facilitators in translating theory into practice, highlight real-world case studies and innovations, and foster the discussion of scalable frameworks for capacity development.

In scope, this Research Topic focuses on the conceptual and applied dimensions of capacity strengthening and the operationalisation of collaboration in One Health. Contributions that examine training, institutional frameworks, and practical enablers or barriers in diverse settings are particularly welcomed. To guide the discussion, key themes for submissions include:

- Workforce education and competency frameworks for One Health practitioners
- Organisational development, governance, and regulations for integrated health management
- Sustainable resource mobilisation and financial innovations for capacity strengthening
- Operational strategies for integrated surveillance, early warning, and risk reduction
- Methods for data integration, knowledge sharing, and evidence-based policy—including use of indigenous and local knowledge
- Models of cross-sectoral partnerships and collaborative networks
- Field-level approaches to strengthening animal health services and infrastructural capacity
- Comparative analyses identifying gaps and proposing solutions to sectoral disparities
- Mechanisms for effective community engagement, advocacy, and communication

We welcome original research articles, reviews and meta-analyses, policy and practice reviews, commentaries, and opinion pieces that advance insight or practice in the operationalisation and capacity strengthening dimensions of One Health.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: One Health, Transdisciplinary collaboration, Intersectoral integration, Ecosystem health, Animal health, Human health, Health systems resilience, Workforce development, Institutional strengthening, Resource mobilisation, capacity strengthening

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.