ZOE – Zoonosis Emergence across Degraded and Restored Forest Ecosystems
What are the relations between biodiversity loss and the risk of zoonosis, that is, the transmission of diseases between animals and humans? How can we create synergies between holistic approaches to health and biodiversity conservation to reduce the risk of zoonosis emergence? And what is the role and impact of human behaviour in increasing or reducing risks, for example, by altering forest ecosystems through the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation?
These are some of the guiding questions of the EU Horizon-Europe project ZOE, which are being addressed by an interdisciplinary consortium of 12 international partner organisations working across geography, geobotany, ecology, virology, immunology, epidemiology, sociology, psychology, and science communication.
Prof. Kerstin Krellenberg and her team in the Urban Studies Working Group are contributing with expertise in Geography and Environmental Sociology, therefore co-leading workpackage 2 and engaging in workpackage 1. Workpackage 2 will entail a literature review on the drivers and mechanisms of relations; the co-creative development of context-specific methods to assess risk perception, vulnerabilities, and coping and adaptation practices in the case studies; as well as through a series of workshops to strengthen the resilience of local actors and reduce health risk and biodiversity loss.
Changes in biodiversity associated with ecosystem degradation are increasingly recognized as an important driver for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.
The inter– and transdisciplinary ZOE consortium aims at advancing the understanding of the effects of ecosystem degradation in the form of deforestation and associated biodiversity loss on the risk of emergence of zoonotic diseases, and at better defining the protective value of forest ecosystem restoration.
The project entails:
- Detection of ecosystem conditions, diversity, change & degradation by using remote sensing and GIS-based analysis.
- Mapping of on-site macro-organism diversity as well as on-site microbiological biodiversity (in rodents, vectors & soil).
- Human socio-economic & cultural factors
- Risk mapping of new risk areas for the emergence of zoonosis.
ZOE investigates 4 case study areas: 2 Mesoamerican rainforest and tropical dry forest areas (Costa Rica and Guatemala) and 2 European mixed forested temperate regions (Slovenia and Slovakia).
Human socio-economic & cultural factors
With an interdisciplinary perspective, the ZOE project teams from University of Vienna & University da Coruña develop a tailored multi-method approach to better understand the vulnerabilities of people based on perceptions of key drivers of disease emergence and spread in settlements of the case study regions. We will involve local communities affected by ecosystem degradation and disease emergence, who cn play a central role in risk prevention and mitigation, addressing human behavioral, social and cultural drivers of ecosystem degradation and disease emergence. These will include behaviors related to food, farming, hunting, trade, hygiene & sanitation, cultural practices as well as recreational activities, and biosecurity measures such as vaccination for livestock.
Methods:
We will contribute particularly to the development and implementation of the project’s trans- and interdisciplinary methodology in the following tasks:
Task 2.1. Literature review
Task 2.2. Critical assessment of main drivers
Task 2.3. Multi-method (qualitative & quantitative) data collection
Task 2.4. Comparative analysis of results obtained
Task 2.5. Organization of community resilience workshops
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Biomedicinske Centrum Slovenskej Akademie Vied, Verejna Vyskumna Institucia – Biomedial Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung e.V.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
Pikado B.V
Universidad de Costa Rica
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
Universidade da Coruña
Universität Potsdam
Universität Wien
Universite d´Aix Marseille
Univerza v Ljubljani
Duration: 01.2024-12.2027
Team members at University of Vienna:
More about ZOE:
ZOE Stakeholder Workshop in Slovenia
On December 12, 2025, the last of a total of five stakeholder workshops for the ZOE-project took place in in Postojna, Slovenia. The aim of the workshop was to identify and discuss local behaviours and structural factors in the emergence of zoonoses.
ZOE Stakeholder Workshop in Slovakia
On 13 November 2025, the first stakeholder workshop in Slovakia took place in Marianka, a small town near Bratislava. It was organised by ZOE researchers from the Biomedical Research Centre in Bratislava and the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Three of our ZOE staff members, Julia Wesely, Charlotte Tienes and Johannes Richter, were involved in both the preparations and the implementation on site.
Wild and important!– Workshop at the children’s university 2025
The workshop “Wild & Important!”, held by Charlotte Tienes, Sophie Gnadenberger and Julia Wesely, took place on July 16 as part of the University of Vienna’s Children’s University 2025. The aim was to introduce the 25 participating children aged 7 to 9 to urban ecosystems and the challenges they face.
Project Midterm Meeting – The ZOE team meets in Bratislava
From May 22 to 24, 2025, the ZOE project team from the University of Vienna met with researchers from all over Europe and Central America and from various scientific disciplines for a three-day intensive exchange to discuss the links between deforestation, the loss of biodiversity and the occurrence of zoonoses.
Researching for our wonderful planet Earth: the ZOE team at Planet Earth Day
To mark International Earth Day, Planet Earth Day took place on Sunday 27.4.25 at the University of Vienna’s GeoCenter. The ZOE project team was represented with the stand “Wild & Important: How the health of animals, forests and humans are connected” at the Marketplace of Sciences.
Project start ZOE – Zoonosis Emergence across Degraded and Restored Forest Ecosystems.
What are the links between biodiversity loss and the risk of transmission of disease carriers between animals and humans, so-called zoonoses? How can synergies between…
