Aquatic urban ecosystems are extremely relevant connectors between people, animals and plants. They constitute ecological corridors between fragmented natural areas and make the cities more sustainable. Yet, these ecosystems are often degraded by lack of space, cuts of riparian vegetation, artificialization of the channels, water pollution, noise, excessive lights, among others. This degradation can lead to numerous disservices to human populations, and increase the probability of the emergence of pathogens, lower disease resistance of wildlife and humans, increase the probability of disease severity and diseases associated with reduced physical activity and permanence in stressful environments found in cities.

OneAquaHealth aims to demonstrate that the health of freshwater ecosystems and human health and wellbeing in urban contexts are highly interconnected. To this aim, OneAquaHealth will promote environmental monitoring of early warning indicators that can assess that balance. It will provide decision-makers with a AI-based Environmental Surveillance System able to support adequate and timely decisions and provide effective recovery measures of aquatic ecosystems health (and consequently human health) adequate for different scenarios, including climate changes. The project will support all relevant stakeholders involved in the process with adequate digital tools to guarantee environmental monitoring beyond the project duration.

By monitoring and raising awareness about the health of the urban aquatic ecosystems and providing a Decision & Support System to improve the health of the ecosystems, the project will enhance their ecosystem services and the human health of the urban population. It will achieve this, by among others applying social practice theory, adopting the One Digital Health (ODH) principles and implementing the gained knowledge for the improvement of policy instruments that enhance future management of urban aquatic sites.