After investing significant time in discussion, the leaders and co-leaders of sub-working groups in WG3 have reached consensus on the approach for engaging stakeholders. Unlike other WGs, the sub-working groups in WG3 require close collaboration and coordination to achieve the main outcome of WG3, which is to produce a catalogue of positive animal welfare (PAW) indicators feasible to be used on farm, that are acceptable and relevant for stakeholders.
Currently, WG3 has the following sub-WGs:
- 3.1 Selection of indicators from WG2
- 3.2 Identification of stakeholders, and preparation of surveys
- 3.3 Consultation of stakeholders
- 3.4 Organisation of workshops to discuss implementation
- 3.5 Exploring feasible technology to be used on farms for assessing/monitoring positive welfare
Apart from close connection among sub-working groups, WG3 needs to receive feedback from stakeholders regarding the view on PAW assessment. After the selection of PAW indicators (by 3.1), a two-step stakeholder consultation is planned: the 1st round is through an online survey (by 3.2), while the format of the 2nd round will be decided at the later stage (e.g., workshops, meetings). Additionally, the output of 3.5 (technology for PAW) will be considered for creating the survey. SubWG 3.3 is responsible for the survey analysis and will work together with 3.4 to prepare the 2nd consultation. In the last year of LIFT, 3.4 will collect the results from the 2nd consultation, build up the catalogue, and finally disseminate the catalogue to the stakeholders.
As for the 1st consultation, it is planned to design the surveys for different farm animal categories, including bovines, small ruminants, pigs, and poultry, directed to three stakeholder categories, namely 1) producers, 2) vets and certification bodies, and 3) food processing companies, retailers and consumers.
Figure 1. Tentative timeline for WG3. The timeline and the work plan are tentative and may be subject to change when LIFT moves forward. Therefore, this article is only a reference to help LIFT WG3 members to better visualize and understand the upcoming work.
Written by Heng-Lun Ko
