Objectives:
This October, the EU is organising the 1st International Conference on Animal Welfare Education. Under the motto "Everyone is responsible," it aims to provide more information to the citizens about educational tools and programs on animal welfare, and to raise awareness about how important it is to educate citizens, farmers, professional animal carers, handlers, slaughterhouse operators, retailers and other stakeholders on how animals should be treated.

The conference will also help create a network, at European and international level, between educational institutions that are active in animal welfare, and to develop a harmonised concept of animal welfare education that everyone involved could use.

 

On the occasion of the First International Conference on Animal Welfare Education, the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the European Union are pleased to invite you to a walking dinner.

Museum of Natural Sciences
on 1 October 2010
from 20.30 to 22.30

   

Video message by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth

Please help us by downloading the evaluation PDF and send us your feedback.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Animal Welfare.

Opening - WELCOME and INTRODUCTION

Moderator: Paola Testori Coggi, Director General, DG SANCO

09.30

John Dalli

European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy

09.45

Marit Paulsen

Member of European Parliament, ALDE Group
Vice-Chair, Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

10.00

Laurette Onkelinx

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health
Belgian Presidency of the EU

Moderator of the conference: Despina Spanou, Principal Advisor - policy and communication coordination, DG SANCO

Session 1- Animal welfare education: science and values

Moderator: Professor Linda Keeling Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

10.40

The importance of animal welfare education

Professor Alistair Lawrence, Head of Animal Welfare, Scottish Agricultural College

11.00

Animal welfare education the science-based approach

Professor Ruth Newberry, Washington State University, Center for the Study of Animal Well-being, USA

11.20

Socio-ethological aspects of welfare training

Professor Dr. Jörg Luy, Animal Welfare and Animal Ethics, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany

11.40

Debates

Lunch Break

Session 2 - Methodologies for teaching animal welfare

13.30

Introduction by Androulla Vassiliou

European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth

13.35

Session 2 - Methodologies for teaching animal welfare

Moderator: Dr Monique Eloit, Deputy Director General of the OIE

13.45

Professional education for vets

Professor Vincenzo Caporale Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise, OIE Collaborating Centre, Italy

14.05

Animal welfare training for professionals

Antonio Velarde, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Animal Welfare Subprogram, Spain

14.25

Open education resources

Anne Algers, Department of Food Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Science

14.45

Debates

Session 3 - Sharing Experiences (I)

Moderator: Professor Dirk Lips Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

15.15

InterNICHE and human education

Nick Jukes, Coordinator InterNICHES, UK

15.30

Animal welfare education for children

Marie Helene Scheib, General Manager of "Tierschutz macht Schule", Austria,
Lars Roeper, Project Director of Erna-Graff Stiftung für Tierschutz, Germany

15.55

AISET-Animals in School Education Trust

Jim Edwards, AISET, New Zealand Veterinary Association

16.10

WSPA - Advanced Concepts programme on Animal Welfare for veterinary schools

Ruth de Vere, Head of Education of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, UK

Questions & Answers

Coffee break

Session 3 - Sharing Experiences (II)

Moderator: Dr. Claire Diederich, Associate Professor in Ethology, University of Namur, Belgium

17.25

FAO regional educational programs

Daniela Battaglia, Livestock Production Officer, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, FAO

17.40

Animal welfare education in Latin America

Carmen Gallo, Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile

17.55

Bristol University: programs for university students education

Dr. David C. J. Main, Head of Division of Farm Animal Science BVA, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, UK

18.10

Children learn to protect the animals

Ioana Gabriela Dungler, Director of Projects, VIER PFOTEN International, Austria

18.25

Poultry passport - Poultry meat training initiative

Charles Bourns, Chair of the Poultry Board, National Farmers Union, UK

Questions & Answers

18.50

Conclusions Day 1

Despina Spanou, Principal Adviser - policy and communication coordination, DG SANCO

End of the day

   

Watch the live broadcast here.

Please help us by downloading the evaluation PDF and send us your feedback.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Animal Welfare.

Opening - WELCOME and INTRODUCTION

Moderator: Bernard Van Goethem, Director, Animal Health and Welfare, DG SANCO
                 Andrea Gavinelli, Head of Animal Welfare Unit, DG SANCO

09.40

Communication strategies and education

Maria Margarida Gameiro, Head of Equal opportunities and equity Unit, Directorate General for Education and Culture

10.00

Emotional importance of companion animals to children, anthropomorphis

PD Dr. sc. Dennis C. Turner, University of Zurich and Director of Institute for applied Ethology and Animal Psychology

10.20

Children drawing contest - prize awarding ceremony

Prince Laurent of Belgium

Exhibition of animal welfare educational programs

End of the day

"Tierschutz macht Schule" project, Austria* + "Walk the dog" project, Erna-Graff Foundation, Germany* Educational programs and materials available, transferring knowledge about animal welfare and husbandry systems to pupils and teachers.

"The Blue Dog" program, Belgium* Scientifically tested program, showing its success in delivering the message to children on how to behave with dogs in different situations; programme is available in 19 languages and it's distributed in 17 Countries (Europe and non-European ones).

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, UK* RSPCA developed school programs, professional / skills training on AW,  education and information campaigns for the public; world wide distribution (Europe, Africa, Asia).

ANIMALIA program, Norway* Developed by the Meat and poultry research centre in Norway, Animalia offers easy access to essential knowledge, through e-learning courses on stunning and killing; all workers handling live animals will need a certificate of competence (new EU Regulation on slaughter 1099/2009).

IFOAM EU Group* the European working level within the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. It brings together more than 300 organisations, associations and enterprises from all EU-27, EFTA and candidate countries. IFOAM´s goal is the worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sound systems that are based on the principles of Organic Agriculture; IFOAM EU Group and its members will present chosen educational and communication initiatives on animal welfare and treatment of animals on organic farms.

Born Free Foundation, UK* Born Free Foundation educates all levels of society in numerous countries in Europe and the world about the welfare and protection of wild animals in captivity. In the coalition ENDCAP, Born Free works with other likeminded NGOs in the EU to seek a greater understanding of the needs of wild animals in zoos, circuses, dolphinaria and those kept as pets.

INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France* INRA – public research institute in France, is widely involved in animal welfare research and contributes to expertise, education, promotion of the scientific and technical culture and to science-society dialogue on welfare issues AWARE mobility desk application – developing sustainable and actively expanding Europe wide networks of farm animal welfare scientists and students.

Quality Handling – Welfare Quality project* Training program for farmers, professional stockpeople, students in farm related professions – about important relationship between stockperson attitude and animal behaviour. + Animal Farm Life – Welfare Quality project, Cardiff University, UK* Website providing information about the life of farm animals (cattle, chickens, pigs) and 8 production types investigated by Welfare Quality project.

Project for a good human-animal co-existence Veterinary Services Bolzano – Health Department of South Tyrol, Italy* Educational project to provide correct information to the public on the needs and specific characteristics of domestic animals; targeted to school children and dog owners; available materials: video, booklets, leaflets, poster.

ACTAsia for Animals, UK* Working with animal protection groups in China on capacity building, organising workshops, for students, professionals etc.

The BROOKE, UK* Equine welfare charity – programs for children, animal owning communities, service providers (for Asia, Africa); also  manual “Sharing the load”.

CARODOG Project - Teramo Institiute, Italy & Vier Pfoten International* Responsible dog ownership strategy; website providing innovative contribution to a systematic approach to canine population management; library, tools, projects and programs available online.

Latin America animal welfare educational initiatives, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay * Programs developed by universities and research institutes from Latin America; printed materials, electronic materials available.

ANIWEL, Finland* ANIWEL (funded by the Finnish Academy) is a network which is comprised of research groups in six universities and two research institutes. + Research Centre for Animal Welfare *, Finland Research Centre for Animal Welfare is a cooperation network of experts in the field of animal welfare science at the University of Helsinki, Faclty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Production Animal Medicine. + The Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare (FCAW), Finland* FCAW disseminates scientific information about animal welfare through the web page.

Compassion in World Farming* Educational resources for teachers and students including videos, teaching activities, information booklets and web-based software; translated into a range of languages and adaptations have appeared in the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.

Copa-Cogeca Pedagogic farms aiming to attract the public and especially school groups to their farms to learn more about farming, how animals are treated and how their food is produced

"Close to animals" project, Romania, Bulgaria Children learn how to protect animals; school book available; project developed together with Vier Pfoten and School Inspectorate authority in Romania.

World Society for the Protection of Animals, UK WSPA’s worldwide animal welfare education team works on programmes designed for teachers, students and professionals, running in Central and South America, Africa and Asia Human Behaviour Change (informal adult education training programmes for equine owners) is such a program.

TAPO – Tanzania Animals Protection Organisation Teaching school students and public many issues concerning animal welfare educational; program targeting  primary school students at Kahama, explaining behaviour of animals.

ECLAM - European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Germany ECLAM encourages good practices in laboratory animal science, and promotes high standards of animal health and welfare through the running of 7 approved training programmes, and in close partnership with ESLAV.

World Organisation for Animal Health – animal welfare educational programs

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations – animal welfare educational programs

International Fund for Animal Welfare For more than 17 years, IFAW's Animal Action Education program has been giving young people the knowledge and tools to take positive action on behalf of animals and the environment. In Europe Animal Action Week takes place in the UK, France, Netherlands and Germany, as well as some other countries who take an interest. The Animal Action Education Programme includes an education pack specially designed to be used by teachers which fits in with the curriculum in that country.

International Network for Humane Education, UK InterNICHE is working with teachers, students and campaigners to implement innovative and humane learning tools in schools, colleges and universities. A small Multimedia Exhibition of alternatives will comprise software, models, mannekins and simulators from the InterNICHE Alternatives Loan System. This global network of libraries supports the replacement of dissection and animal experiments, and helps ensure that animal welfare education is complemented by humane practical classes, not negated by harmful animal use.