Poster by H. Nguyen-Viet, J. Gilbert, Dinh Xuan Tung, H. Mallee, F. Unger and D. Grace presented at the 10-year anniversary of the Veterinary Public Health Center for Asian Pacific conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2-6 July 2013.

1. Systems thinking in the Field Building Leadership Initiative:
Advancing Ecohealth in South East Asia
1
2,3
2,4
Tung Xuan Dinh , Giang Thi Huong Pham , Hung Nguyen-Viet
1: Vietnam National Institute of Animal Science
2: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER), Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH)
3: Vietnam Public Health Association (VPHA)
4: Swiss Tropical and Public Health (Swiss TPH) & International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Introduction
Ecohealth is useful tool to address health and environmental issues in developing countries, in particular in South East Asia
(SEA) where agricultural intensification processes have profound implications for ecosystems and health. Using the ecohealth
approach to comprehensively tackle complex issues requires individual, institutional and country capacity in understanding
and applying this approach within the context of the region. Field Building Initiative Leadership Initiative (FBLI) in South East
Asia is a 5-year (2011-2016) Ecohealth program funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) consisting
of three interlinked components: i) research ii) capacity building, and iii) knowledge translation.
Objectives
 Conduct ecohealth research to address human health problems
related to agricultural intensification
 Strengthen the capacity within sea for ecohealth research and
practice by ecohealth training to build leadership and expertise in the
ecohealth field
 Engage key policy makers – at local and national levels – to interact
with the ecohealth research teams, sites and communities
 Facilitate networking-of-networks and knowledge sharing to
mainstream ecohealth approaches and foster the development of the
ecohealth field in the region
Three components of the FBLI
System thinking in Ecohealth approach
Ecohealth is a participatory approach that looks at health as a result of a complex set of social and ecological interactions
Interrelationships
Perspectives
Boundaries
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Ecohealth principles
Systems thinking
Transdisciplinarity
Participation
Sustainability
Gender & social equity
Knowledge to action
How System Thinking is used in the FBLI research?
Research issues
What and how ecosystem and
health issues are related to
agricultural intensification?
Research methods
Participatory action research
approach, qualitative interviews,
quantitative surveys, and
participatory rural appraisal tools
Partner institutions
Coordinating Unit
Donor
c/o: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER)
Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam
T: (+84) 4.6273 3162, F: (+84) 4.6273 3172
E: fbli@hsph.edu.vn W: http://cenpher.hsph.edu.vn/research/fbli
http://ecohealthnetwork.org
How System Thinking is
applied?
Rich pictures; situation
analysis; interactions between
practices and factors
(ecological, socio-economic)
and health