Bringing Teams Together: The Start of a Cross‑Country Collaboration
Integrative One-Health Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance’s (IOSAR) officially began its journey with a dynamic launch meeting and a series of training sessions held in South Africa. The meeting brought together researchers, practitioners, funders and farm partners from both countries, setting a collaborative tone for the years ahead.
During the launch, the team shared project goals, mapped out workstreams, and identified early intersections between microbiology, environmental science, and data analytics. The discussions highlighted the value of an interdisciplinary approach—and the importance of integrating farmer knowledge and lived experience from the very beginning.
The training sessions that followed equipped the South Africa and UK teams with a shared toolkit for fieldwork, sampling, analysis, and data collection. Participants worked side‑by‑side in field settings and training facilities, learning new methods, harmonising protocols, and building the foundation for consistent, comparable datasets across countries.
Beyond the technical work, the launch week created space for storytelling, problem‑solving, and relationship‑building. Team members reflected on the role of microbial diversity in food producing environments, shared insights from previous projects, and developed a mutual understanding of the contexts in which IOSAR will operate.
By the end of the week, the group had more than a project plan—they had the beginnings of a community. The launch solidified IOSAR’s commitment to partnership, co‑creation, and real‑world impact as the project moves from planning to practice.
