Territory Health: A Transdisciplinary Approach of Environmental, Plant, Animal, and Human Health Interdependencies in a Rural Landscape in France
Sabrina Gaba, Sandrine Lefeuvre, Frédéric Ouédraogo, Céline Mougard, Eloïse Brillard, Fleur Delva, Antoine Dupuis, Alain Monnereau, Jérôme Moreau, Karine Monceau, Raphaëlle Teysseire, Nicolas Benvegnu, Vincent Bretagnolle
Health is increasingly understood as an integrated property of human, animal, plant, and environmental systems, as articulated by the One Health and EcoHealth concepts. The Territory Health project applies these perspectives within an agricultural landscape to examine interdependencies between environmental, non-human organisms, and human health. Using in a participatory and experimental approach, the project brings together researchers, local residents, farmers, decision-makers, and NGOs to investigate the relationships between pesticide use, in situ exposure to pesticide mixtures, and health effects on non-target organisms. A key objective is to establish a "partner cohort" to examine how changes in food production, dietary practices, and the human-nature relationship shape health of the territory under study. By situating the food-biodiversity-environment-health nexus within a socioecosystem perspective, this work supports agrifood system transformations toward long-term territorial health.