Presentation at 3rd GRF One Health Summit 2015 Session Vulnerabilities and Resilience - One Health Approaches for Sustainable Development

1. Section of Veterinary Epidemiology
Sustainable Development:
where are we heading?
Simon Rüegg
Section of Veterinary Epidemiology
University of Zürich
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2. Cell Cell
Cell Cell
Cell
Life as a complex system
tissue
organ
organ system
organism
population
habitat
ecosystem
global ecology

3. global ecosystem
Habitat 1
Marsh
Habitat 2
Forest
Habitat 3
Subalpine
Habitat 4
Grassland
Habitat 5
Alpine
Hare population
Fox population
Escherichia
coli
population
Human
population

4. (I think) Life is…
 Composed of multiple different components
 Nested hierarchies
 Concerted changes over time
 Reaction
 Acclimatisation
 Adaptation
 Evolution
a complex adaptive system

5. A quick brush-up on Thermodynamics
Entropy ≈
Mater + Energy + Information
order

6. Complex systems…
converge towards an entropic minimum
 minimal disorder
entropy
order

7. Health ≈ minimal entropy
 Maximal resilience (adaptability)
 Capability to react upon
– external changes(e.g. thermoregulation)
– Internal changes (e.g. hunger)
 Diversity
 High number of degrees of freedom
 Connectedness
 Cohesion
 Synchronisation
 Synergies

8. Thermodynamics of animal husbandry
Herding animals requires entropy to be maintained (dissipative state)
entropy
order

9. Entropy for animal husbandry
Environmental Entropy
• Food for predators
• Food for competitors
Human Entropy
• Vigilance
• Transhumance

10. Economy of animal husbandry
Environmental Entropy
• Food for predators
• Food for competitors
Human Entropy
• Vigilance
• Transhumance
Optimisation
= reduction of human entropy
More Environmental
Entropy
• E.g. overgrazing
Animal Entropy
• Compromised welfare
• Compromised health

11. Entropy for Sedentary agriculture
Environmental Entropy
• Food for predators
• Food for competitors
Human Entropy
• Vigilance
• Transhumance
Economy
Ecology
Environmental Entropy
• Construction material
• Transportation
Human Entropy
• Transportation
• Construction
• Animal Health

12. Conclusion for econometrics
 Current econometrics are driving agricultural
intensification.
 If there is consensus to conserve the environment,
the degree of agricultural intensification must be
constrained.
 Alternative metrics such as resilience allow
assessing «health» of any hierarchically nested
entity including individuals and farms.
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13. Conclusion for health strategy
Eradication of disease requires isolation of a system
from the environment, e.g. biosafety.
This has been achieved in pig and poultry farming.
Is this how we dream the future of humanity?
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