The ExposUM Institute in Liège for the Transdisciplinary Humanities Study Days: “One Health”

From June¹ to 4, the ExposUM Institute participated in the “One Health” Transdisciplinary Humanities Study Days (HumUSS), organized by the University of Liège through its Laboratory of Transitions and its Museum and Cultural Center.

A week of meetings, workshops, and opportunities for reflection on the role of the humanities (humanities and social sciences, art, philosophy, literature, etc.) in implementing the One Health approach. This week builds on the discussions from last year’s spring school held in Montpellier by the ExposUM Institute and the Center for Earth Policy. 

These two schools are thus launching an international “One Health” school-community network.

“One Health” is an approach that encourages us to view environmental, animal, and human health as interconnected and interdependent. The One Health approach thus challenges us to reexamine our lifestyles, our relationships with living things, and the ways we plan and manage our living spaces (cities and communities). This approach invites us to broaden our perspective and make room for a diversity of knowledge (academic, scientific, practical, experiential, traditional, and more). This involves numerous disciplines and stakeholders who must learn to communicate, reflect, and create together.

Faced with this need to reinvent our methods, the HumUSS Transdisciplinary Study Days served as a testing ground for exploring the question: “How can the humanities, with their diversity of knowledge and forms of expression, contribute to the ‘One Health’ approach?”

To answer this question, some sixty people—academics, community leaders, and artists—from 10 different countries came together for artistic workshops and collective intelligence sessions toexperiment with “doing things differently.” Inspired by their exploration of several community initiatives and artistic performances in Liège, the participants reimagined the city from a new perspective to identify the keys to a “One Health” city.  

We have spent the last few days reflecting on this experience, beginning the collective drafting of a HumUSS manifesto and analyzing the methods we explored. This reflection continues today, and we are still working on ways to present and share what we have learned and produced this week.

We would like to thank the organizers and all the participants for this wonderful event and these enriching encounters.