Advancing One Health Principles in Bulgaria: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Transdisciplinary Research and Practice

The One Health (OH) concept emphasizes public health collaboration and transdisciplinary research. Following the COVID-19 crisis, Bulgaria's first OH scientific initiative was launched at the Medical University of Varna to raise national awareness and promote OH principles. Expanding on WHO's holistic OH definition, the project explores "One Health-Integrated Social and Scientometric Approaches for Better Quality of Life", involving researchers, students, and the University Publishing Department. This report aims to outline the project's parallel mixed-methods design (PMMD) and initial findings. Using the nominal group technique and horizon scanning, the project was structured into three thematic research areas: (1) OH and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among medical and veterinary professionals, and investigating the potential of integrative approaches to manage AMR; (2) OH and wellbeing-examining the wellbeing levels among students and among chronically ill patients; and (3) OH education and dissemination-integrating OH into education and public awareness campaigns. Preliminary findings show policy gaps, particularly the lack of a national OH Action Plan. A KAP survey was conducted (sample size-228, 2023-2024) and wellbeing studies are ongoing (193 students participated, Februarty 2025), while OH topics are being integrated into the curricula. Despite low awareness in Bulgaria, this project seeks to attract national attention to the EU OH strategies.