Animal Welfare and Sustainability Workshop
Date: 22/02/2023
Online
Workshop Title
Animal welfare and sustainability
Date and Location
The workshop is taking place online from 2pm to 5.45pm (UK time)
Aims of Workshop
Recent discussions have mainstreamed the idea that animal welfare should be included in the concept of sustainability, but animal welfare remains absent of global discussions on sustainability. For instance, improved animal welfare is not part of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals. This lack of consideration is also associated with a lack of empirical research. Most animal welfare research is focused on current issues and little work is being done to prepare for what will come in the near future. Failure to adapt and mitigate climate change will pose unprecedented animal welfare challenges, as illustrated by recent extreme climatic events and by the Covid pandemic. The aim of this meeting is to increase the awareness of animal welfare scientists on the challenges to come and encourage future work and collaborations on this topic. We propose to explore 5 key themes:
– The inclusion of animal welfare within the sustainability framework
– The need to increase adaptation to current and future climate crises
– Trade-offs between climate change mitigation strategies and animal welfare especially in livestock production
– The role of public opinion in guiding the future of livestock production
– The incorporation of animal welfare metrics within sustainability assessment
Programme
Speakers at the event include:
Dr Linda Keeling (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) – The inclusion and compatibility of animal welfare with the UN sustainability goals
Maria Jose Hötzel (Federal University of Santa Catarina) – Public perception as part of a more sustainable agriculture
Dr Alexandra Protopopova (University of British Columbia) – Impact of climate change on companion animals
Dr Becca Franks (New York University) – Animal welfare risks of global aquaculture
Prof Bas Rodenburg (Utrecht University) – Resilience as a potential win-win strategy to improve animal welfare and the overall sustainability of livestock production
Summaries
The organisers of the workshop have written a comprehensive summary of the event which can be found here:
LINK TO AW & SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Videos of talks
All five talks from this workshop, along with an introduction from Benjamin Lecorps (University of Bristol) and Siobhan Mullan (University College Dublin) can now be found on the Members Only section of the website. Members will need to log in to the website (top right corner) and then select Meeting Presentations / Workshops from the menu.
