Introduction and Overview › Glossary for Networked Thinking · 3 min read
Health does not concern humans alone. One Health is a concept that demonstrates how closely humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected. It emphasizes that diseases, nutrition, habitats, and social conditions influence each other—and calls for a rethinking in medicine, agriculture, nutrition policy, and environmental management.
Yet many Indigenous societies have been thinking in these connections for centuries. The concept of Two-Eyed Seeing complements One Health with a deeper, relationship-based perspective that is particularly valuable for TEIKEI.
The One Health concept was systematized in the early 2000s in response to global health crises such as SARS, avian flu, and antibiotic resistance. It emerged through exchanges between professional societies, universities, civil society networks, and was later adopted and established by international organizations like the WHO, FAO, UNEP, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Key milestones:
TEIKEI is a civil society movement. We take a neutral stance toward concepts like One Health:
One Health can inspire, but TEIKEI remains independent, community-based, and locally rooted in its implementation.
Health is not merely the absence of disease but a web of relationships between all living beings and habitats.
One Health connects:
These areas should be thought of and managed interdisciplinarily to better address crises like pandemics or environmental disasters.
An equally profound and often older concept comes from the Mi’kmaq Nation (Eastern Canada):
Etuaptmumk – Two-Eyed Seeing, developed by Elder Albert Marshall, Murdena Marshall, and Cheryl Bartlett.
"Seeing with one eye the strength of Indigenous worldviews, with the other the strength of Western science—and acting with both together."
Core ideas of Two-Eyed Seeing:
At TEIKEI, we consciously draw from both sources:
This creates a third, unique perspective:
an economy that is alive, regenerative, and just.
One Health provides terms, Two-Eyed Seeing provides depth.
For TEIKEI, what matters is:
Health arises where relationships, responsibility, and transparency are lived.
← Letter O · All Terms A–Z
By the TEIKEI editorial team, with support from AI (ChatGPT)
Created on June 7, 2025 · Last updated on October 14, 2026
Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us