We are pleased to announce the upcoming two-day symposium entitled: Promoting the inclusion of the environmental pillar within One Health.
When?
June 30th and July 1st 2026.
Where?
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
Why attend?
The One Health approach is crucial for understanding and controlling infectious diseases at the intersection of humans, animals, and the environment. Despite its importance, the environmental pillar often remains underrepresented. This symposium aims to address this gap by fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge, and exploring solutions to better integrate the environmental domain within One Health research, policy, and practice across Europe. Through inspiring presentations and interactive workshops, we hope to stimulate new ideas and partnerships.
What to expect?
- Keynote presentations on the vital role of the environment in One Health
- Thematic workshops focusing on climate change, the human-made environment, and innovative methodologies
- Interactive sessions to identify key challenges and co-create solutions
- Panel discussion with experts from all One Health domains
- Ample networking opportunities for cross-sector collaboration
Registration
- Participation is free of charge
- Registration is on a first come, first served basis
- Priority will be given to participants who can attend both days of the symposium
- Limited spots are available for those who wish to attend for only one day
In case the registration form is full, you can fill out your details on the waiting list form. If additional spots become available, we will contact you via email.
Prefinal program
Day 1 Tuesday, June 30, 2026
| Time | Activity | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Register and walk in | |
| 09:30 | Welcome | Arjen van de Giessen (Head of Centre for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and President of the European One Health Association (EOHA)) Ana Maria de Roda Husman (Head of department for Environmental Microbiology at RIVM and Professor Global changes and Environmental infectious diseases at Utrecht University (UU)) Joukje Siebenga (Programme Manager Global One Health and Knowledge Transfer Officer Human & Animal Health at Wageningen University (WUR) and moderator for this symposium) |
| 10:00 | Plenary lecture - Beyond the plate: exploring environmental pathways of foodborne pathogens | Key-note speaker: Lapo Mughini Gras (Senior Scientist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and Professor of Food Safety and Public Health at Utrecht University) |
| 10:40 | Coffee break | |
| 11:00 | Interactive plenary Session - Different views on the Environment and Environmental Integration within One Health | Marieke de Cock (Researcher Environmentally Transmitted Infectious Diseases at the RIVM) & Aleid Bouman (Intern at the RIVM and MSc student Global Health at (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Amsterdam) |
| 11:40 | Plenary lecture - Climate change impacts on health in Europe | Key-note speaker: Aleksandra Kazmierczak (Coordinator of the European Climate and Health Observatory at the European Environment Agency (EEA)) |
| 12:20 | Lunch break | |
| 13:20 | Presentation Carousel | |
| Reina Sikkema (Assistant Professor at the ErasmusMC) | |
| Adam Valcek (Senior Researcher Antimicrobial Resistance at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR)) | |
| Barry Rockx (Senior Researcher and Expert/Team lead Vector-Borne Viruses at (Wageningen Bioveterinary Research)) | |
| 14:20 | Workshops - Round 1 | See Workshop details: Day 1 |
| 15:20 | Coffee break | |
| 15:40 | Workshops - Round 2 | See Workshop details: Day 1 |
| Around 16:45 | Closing and Networking drinks |
Day 2 Wednesday, July 1, 2026
| Time | Activity | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Walk in | |
| 09:30 | Presentation Carousel | |
| Myrna de Rooij (Assistant Professor in One Health and Environmental Epidemiology at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS)) | |
| Clara Köhler (PhD student at the RIVM and (Wageningen University &Research)) | |
| Nikki Thie (Researcher at the RIVM) | |
| 10:30 | Ten Years of NCOH: strategic Reflections and the Road Ahead | Annemarie Rebel (Director WBVR and Chair Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH)) |
| 10:50 | Coffee break | |
| 11:10 | Interactive Plenary Session - Bridging environmental and health expertise: insights from large (Europese unie)-wide consortium on AMR | Roosmarijn Luiken (Scientist and Project Coordinator at RIVM), Heike Schmitt (Theme-Lead AMR in the Environment at the RIVM and professor at the TU Delft), Luis Lucena (Scientist and Project Coordinator at University of Limoges, France), Ane Laburu (Scientific Officer at the Spanish Agency of Medicine and Medical Devices (AEMPS), Spain) & Ricardo Carapeto (Head of the Area of Environmental Risk Assessment at the AEMPS, Spain) |
| 12:10 | Lunch break | |
| 13:00 | Workshops - Round 3 | See Workshop details: Day 2 |
| 14:30 | Coffee break | |
| 15:00 | Panel discussion | TBD |
| Around 15:30 | Closing |
Workshop details
Day 1 Tuesday, June 30, 2026
| Workshop | Speaker |
|---|---|
| Landscape Design for Zoonotic Risk Reduction in Urban Environments | Xiaolu Hu (Landscape Architect at the Wageningen Environ-mental Research (WUR)) & Eline van Remortel (Landscape Designer at the WUR) Joyce Zwartkruis (Researcher Green Living Environment at the WUR) |
| Dutch Vector Factors | Marieta Braks (Researcher at the RIVM) & Jeroen Spitzen (Researcher at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)) |
| Infection Risks and the Energy Transition: Infection Prevention in the Design Phase | Matthijs de Winter (Researcher at the RIVM) & Alvin Bartels (Policy Advisor Infection Prevention at the RIVM) |
| Bringing the Environmental Dimension into One Health Action | Pablo Sagredo Martin (One Health and AMR Specialist at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)) |
| Risk Assessment and source tracing model for long-range airborne pathogens in the outdoor environment | Dante Spekken (Data Analyst and Modeller at the RIVM) |
| The central role of water in One Health | Eline Boelee (Expert advisor Water & Health at Deltares) & Julia Bleser (Advisor and researcher at Deltares) |
| Environmental Health: Everywhere and Nowhere | Joyce Zwartkruis (Researcher Green Living Environment at the WUR), Carmen Aalbers (Developer Collaborative Research at the WUR), Lian Grabijn (Researcher Ecology at the WUR), Amanda Matson (Senior Researcher Soil Health at the WUR) & Eileen Heße (Researcher Marine Ecology at the WUR) |
Day 2 Wednesday, July 1, 2026
| Workshop | Speaker |
|---|---|
| One Health Governance and Impact Assessment | Marleen Bekker (Associate Professor at the WUR) |
| Realising Environmental Public Health Action in One Health: From Environmental Public Health Tracking to Action across People, Place and Equity | Valentina Guercio (Senior expert Environmental Epidemiology at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)) & Joe Swift (Public Health Lead at the UKHSA) |
| Flushing out threats: the power of wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) for infectious disease control | Anne-Merel van der Drift (RIVM), Maarten de Jong (Public Health Service Amsterdam) & Taru Miller (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and UNEP) |
| Using systems thinking to show the relevance of the environment in One Health | Tarja Pitkänen (Professor at the University of Helsinki and Chief Specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Andries Hof (Senior Scientific researcher at the RIVM) & Sophia Dollmann (Scientific researcher at the RIVM) |
Questions?
Please contact: onehealthsymposium@rivm.nl
Funding
This symposium is funded by: ·
- European One Health Association (European One Health Association (EOHA))
- ZOOver program (Thematische versterking van de infectieziektebestrijding vanuit het RIVM | RIVM), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature.