Summary The GCRF Health, Polluted Water and Soils Network of excellence is focused on reducing health problems relating to water and soil pollution in climate-stressed, rural and deprived urban communities in Kenya, Jamaica and Grenada. We aim to achieve this by focusing on affordable and innovative technological and sociological solutions to improve access to clean water, healthy and productive soils and safe, nutritious foods. The network is based on a One Health interdisciplinary, approach, with a growing membership drawn from academic researchers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, health and environmental professionals, government officials, science policy diplomats, community leaders, and civil society and a commitment to grow. Our goal is to build a network of committed individuals, who will work together to solve problems together and will get better at getting things done. Network members will engage in a two-year programme of innovative, interconnected activities, designed to facilitate and enrich the exchange of knowledge, ideas and praxis, build capacity, and help early and mid-career academic participants to connect with the wider community and forge long-lasting, interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. The activities include a series "big-tent" settings including: country-based Knowledge Networks in which entrepreneurs and business will be encouraged to bring new ideas and thinking about social enterprise and for-profit schemes into the network on how to deliver change; Round-tables for diverse groups to "think out of my box" and develop pathways for realising solutions; on-line Communities of Practice to enable everyone to gain a strong understanding of the issues, evidence and potential solutions through moderated conversations; Workshops and co-laboratories, that will give members and stakeholders the opportunity to co-design innovative ways to improve health through affordable and innovative technological and sociological solutions and improved access to clean water and soils; Demonstration activities and Outreach in local communities to heighten awareness of impacts on health from polluted water and soils and solutions; two Global Digital Conferences which will include on-line presentations, chat groups, interactive sessions, and hackathons, to give network members the opportunity to demonstrate how different issues are being tackled; open access e-learning courses and training webinars on key issues leading to University certification; and an International conference to be held at the Eden Centre, UK to present the outcomes and ideas from the network, consolidate new collaborations and future actions. Some of the measurable outcomes will include improved health in selected communities Grenada, Jamaica and Kenya through greater access to clean water, soils and safe, nutritious foods; lasting partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations able to exploit opportunities for joint research proposals, business propositions and social enterprise; and increased skills and capacities to solve challenges linked to health, climate change and pollution through collaborative and participatory methods. The results of the network's activities will be disseminated widely through the network's website, social media and academic publications, and shared in detail with the UKRI and the Global Challenge Leaders. The hallmarks of success will be a network that has developed its own compass for working with complexity, enjoys "big-tent settings for joined-up action", and whose membership gets better at getting things done by finding power and using it.