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Teaching and learning for change: analysis of a post-graduate One Health program

Sustainability Science volume 17, pages 65–80 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

As problematized through the One Health concept, global health issues are defeating conventional disciplinary approaches since they unfold across various scientific domains and across all levels of society. Calling for a change in the way knowledge is generated and used to tackle these complex societal issues, the One Health concept appears as a particular perspective within sustainability science. Various academic initiatives, inspired by the One Health concept, are emerging to prepare future health practitioners and researchers to think and work across disciplines. The building of adapted curricula faces important challenges, tied to the siloed structure of universities. Hence, the training initiatives are still in their infancy, facing an important uncertainty regarding field needs and goals to achieve. This study analyzes the main features and the impacts of a One Health-oriented program, starting in such an uncertain and siloed university context. The method combined participant observation and semi-structured interviews (individual and focus group) with four categories of actors: learners, teachers, partners, program designers. The narratives, reflecting the perceptions of the actors, were analyzed to propose an underlying visual model of the program. The main identified features of the program point to a continuous process of mutual adjustment between actors, available means, and projected goals. The program benefitted from interactions at several levels: between students, teachers, and external partners, to create an overall mutual learning dynamic. The underlying model is interpreted as an inherently evolutive structure, not only transmitting knowledge but actively co-creating knowledge, as would take place in a transdisciplinary research process.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are fully grateful and were happy to work with all actors. We wish to thank the colleagues from FAO offices, we are grateful to the Afrique One (Afrique One-ASPIRE/DEL-15-008), headed by the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d´Ivoire, for their continuous support and trust, as well as to the Ecole Inter-Etats de Sciences et Médecine Vetérinaires of Dakar, Senegal, and all our academic and NGO partners in Africa, South-East Asia, and Latin America. Special thanks also go out to all the actors who participated in the surveys.

Funding

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not for profit sector. But the realization of this work was facilitated by the University of Liège, the University Dan Dick Dankoulodo of Maradi, and the Belgian Académie de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur, Commission de la Coopération au Développement (ARES-CCD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Sciences and Techniques, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University Dan Dicko Dankoulodo of Maradi, Maradi, Niger

    Djibo Idrissa Sidikou

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Uiversity of Liège, 6 Avenue de Cureghem, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Thomas-Julian Irabor & Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux

  3. Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals and Health (FARAH), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Thomas-Julian Irabor & Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux

  4. Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Bassirou Bonfoh

  5. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Bassirou Bonfoh

  6. ASTRE, CIRAD, INRAE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Aurelie Binot

  7. Faculty of Psychology, Logopedics and Education Sciences, Department of Education Sciences, Adult Learning and Continuing Education, Adaptation, Resilience and Change (ARCH), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Daniel Faulx

  8. Research Centre On Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Olivier Vandenberg

  9. Division of Infection and Immunity, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Olivier Vandenberg

  10. Department Sciences-Philosophies-Societies, Faculty of Sciences, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Stéphane Leyens

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  1. Djibo Idrissa Sidikou
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  2. Thomas-Julian Irabor
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  3. Bassirou Bonfoh
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  4. Aurelie Binot
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  7. Stéphane Leyens
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  8. Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux.

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Handled by Yoshifumi Masago, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Center for Climate Change Adaptation Tsukuba, Japan

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Sidikou, D.I., Irabor, TJ., Bonfoh, B. et al. Teaching and learning for change: analysis of a post-graduate One Health program. Sustain Sci 17, 65–80 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01053-3

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