The One Health Research Centre (OHRC) was founded jointly by the University of Greifswald, IKEM and Therme One Health, to carry out targeted research projects with the goal of making cross-sectoral, evidence-based contributions to the health and wellbeing of our society and planet. Through the incorporation of the diverse resources of the partners, the One Health Research Centre will conduct research projects on the interactions and correlating elements in the health of humans, animals, and the environment. The aim of the One Health Research Centre is to implement its findings in the restoration and creation of health-promoting environments in cities worldwide, through Therme One Health’s infrastructure and urban development initiatives, as well as in Therme Group’s own thermal facilities.
The centre is situated within the academic framework of the University of Greifswald, and the newly founded Helmholtz Institute for One Health, which mark Greifswald as a central hub for One Health research in Europe. It will benefit from the wide-ranging expertise of the University of Greifswald’s longstanding academic excellence, alongside IKEM’s sustainability and policy expertise, and Therme One Health’s innovative solution providers, as well as its extended network of academic institutions, NGOs, healthcare providers, urban developers, designers, and architects. This spirit of collaboration reflects the principles of the One Health approach’s transdisciplinary and collaborative nature.
On the occasion of the COP26 World Climate Conference in Glasgow, the One Health Research Centre (OHRC) produced its first policy paper “From Building to Growing Cities,” providing a roadmap towards the transformation of urban expansion from the biggest threat to our ecosphere into a driver of climate action. It also provided support for the publication of the policy paper “Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and the private sector,” published by IKEM.
To accompany the publication of its policy paper, on November 11, Therme One Health staged the Wellbeing Culture Forum panel discussion From Building to Growing Cities, with the participation of the paper’s co-editors Prof. Michael Mehling (MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research) and Simon Schäfer Stradosky (IKEM), in addition to Patience Naamara (Fairventures Worldwide) as well as Therme One Health Head of Global Engagement Maria Rivera Espinosa and Therme One Health CEO Mikolaj Sekutowicz.
