The World Organisation for Animal Health announces new branded digital series, Animals & Us, to be produced by BBC StoryWorks

Animal health is a key component of global health, food security, and environmental sustainability. From plankton extracting carbon from the atmosphere to bees pollinating more than 30% of the world’s agricultural crops and 90% of wild vegetation, our societies and economies are intrinsically linked to animals. While new technology, increased mobility, industrialisation, and globalisation have advanced human, animal, and environmental health in many ways, they’ve also created new challenges. The growing threats of biodiversity loss, zoonotic diseases, and antimicrobial resistance highlight the importance of animal health, and its rippling effect on humans. 

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is pleased to announce a new branded film series, produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions, exploring the transformative efforts reshaping global animal health. Anchored in principles of ‘One Health’, Animals & Us (working title) will journey through groundbreaking solutions — from wildlife conservation and disease prevention to vaccine innovation and sustainable livestock practices.  

The series will address three key themes: 

1. Building Resilience: How does advancing animal health protect humans from future pandemics and zoonotic risks? This chapter underscores the critical role of vaccination, disease surveillance, and biosecurity in safeguarding both animal and human health. Stronger animal health systems mean a safer future for everyone. 

2. Nurturing Health: How can innovations in animal health strengthen food systems and combat antimicrobial resistance? This chapter looks at how better animal health practices can reduce foodborne illnesses and ensure safer food supplies, showing the ripple effects of healthier livestock on communities. 

3. Restoring Balance: How does protecting biodiversity and ecosystem health safeguard our future? This chapter shows how thriving ecosystems and smart cultural practices boost local resilience, proving that animal health, nature, and human well-being are all connected.  

Through compelling storytelling, it will reveal the interconnected strategies that are fostering healthier ecosystems, advancing food security, and inspiring action across sectors to create a sustainable future. 

Animals & Us, which will launch in 2026, will be hosted on a dedicated branded microsite on BBC.com, with a multi-platform digital campaign engaging relevant audiences from amongst the platform’s 165 million monthly audience, amplified by WOAH and its network. 

BBC StoryWorks’ creative teams will collaborate directly with selected partners to produce vivid pieces of branded content for the campaign. If your organisation has a story to share in line with these themes, please submit your expression of interest by filling in this short form.

A selection of respondents will be invited to discuss engaging BBC StoryWorks’ creative teams to produce a branded piece for the series, which will require a fee determined by production variables. BBC StoryWorks’ development and production teams will work closely with selected organisations to create captivating pieces, and partners will be able to promote the content on their own channels as supported by BBC StoryWorks and WOAH. 

For further information, please contact: Diane Grasser, Series Developer at BBC StoryWorks: [email protected]