On World Science Day for Peace and Development, AnaEE-ERIC proudly announces its contribution to the Crete Declaration, a peer-reviewed policy brief published in Research Ideas and Outcomes that formally commits Europe’s leading research infrastructures to advancing the One Health approach. AnaEE-ERIC is among the co-authors of this landmark declaration, which brings together over 50 European research infrastructures, organizations, and collaborative projects in a unified commitment to address the interconnected challenges facing our biosphere.
A Formal Commitment to Science for Society
The timing is significant. This year’s World Science Day theme—”Trust, Transformation, and Tomorrow: The Science We Need for 2050″—calls for stronger partnerships between science, policy, and society. The Crete Declaration provides exactly such a framework, transforming collaborative intent into a formal, citable commitment. Published as a policy brief with a permanent DOI, the Declaration goes beyond a simple statement of principles. It represents a peer-reviewed, academically credible foundation for coordinated action across Europe’s research infrastructure landscape.
Addressing Interconnected Global Challenges
Developed during a special assembly in Crete in June 2025 and hosted by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, the Declaration recognizes the fundamental interdependence of human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health.
It identifies urgent, interconnected challenges that demand systemic solutions: emerging diseases and antimicrobial resistance, food safety and sustainable production, water scarcity, environmental contamination, and severe biodiversity change—all intensified by climate change.
The UN General Assembly’s declaration of 2024–2033 as the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development underscores that achieving the 2030 Agenda requires stronger partnerships between science, policy, and society. The Crete Declaration provides a concrete European framework for such collaboration.
AnaEE-ERIC’s Contribution to One Health
As a distributed research infrastructure providing experimental and observational platforms for ecosystem research, AnaEE-ERIC contributes critical expertise in understanding how ecosystems interact with human, animal, and plant health. Our facilities enable researchers to investigate the complex relationships between environmental changes and health outcomes—exactly the kind of integrated, cross-domain science the Declaration champions.
Through its co-authorship, AnaEE-ERIC has helped shape a collective vision that positions research infrastructures as pivotal actors in providing solutions grounded in robust science and evidence-based insights into the functioning of our living environment.
Four Core Commitments
The Declaration outlines four key areas of commitment for all signatories:
- Strengthen Strategic Collaboration: Invest in structured, sustained collaboration on One Health challenges, engaging with stakeholders and funding agencies to prioritize actions and realize common goals
- Advance Data Integration and FAIR Principles for Open Science: Ensure equitable access to data resources, software, workflows, standards, and protocols across domains—keeping citizens informed of scientific developments
- Support Open Innovation: Establish trusted, inclusive platforms for stakeholder engagement in critical areas such as ecosystem conservation, sustainable food systems, antimicrobial resistance, and water security
- Inform Policy and Public: Provide integrated scientific knowledge for effective, evidence-based policy-making and citizen engagement. As the Declaration states, policies anchored in reliable data and rooted in societal participation become more feasible, impactful, and widely adopted
Science Linked with Society
World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to link science more closely with society, ensuring citizens are kept informed of developments in science and understand its relevance in daily life. The Crete Declaration embodies this principle through its commitment to “whole of society” approaches and public engagement.
By formalizing these commitments in a peer-reviewed publication, the signatories create an accountable, citable framework that can inform funding decisions, policy development, and collaborative projects for years to come.
An Open Invitation
The Declaration invites all European stakeholders committed to One Health—including policy-makers, science clusters, and the private sector—to endorse it and join efforts towards a federated and coordinated approach to One Health research and innovation in Europe.
This World Science Day, the Crete Declaration stands as a testament to the kind of collaborative, open, and socially engaged science we need for 2050 and beyond—with AnaEE-ERIC proud to be part of shaping this vision. Read the full Crete Declaration: Arvanitidis C, Ameixa O, Basset A, et al. (2025) The Crete Declaration: Uniting Science for One Health. Research Ideas and Outcomes 11: e176120. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.11.e176120
About World Science Day for Peace and Development: Celebrated annually on November 10, World Science Day highlights the significant role of science in society and the importance of engaging the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. The 2025 theme emphasizes the essential partnerships between science, policy, and society needed for sustainable development.
