The WG3 meeting in Barcelona was intensive yet highly productive. The two-day in-person event, which happened on the 27th and 28th of January 2026, featured a warm-up activity, five focused working blocks, one invited talk, and two roundtable discussions. The discussions addressed WG3 outputs, manuscripts, deliverables, and contributions to the LIFT final workshop. Early Career researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Àngela Ramon, Raúl Guevara, and Heng-Lun Ko, played an active role by moderating several key sessions, supported by the WG3 leader Pol Llonch. The meeting was attended by 22 people, including researchers and stakeholders.
Throughout the meeting, all WG3 subWG leaders were invited to present the objectives, current status, remaining tasks, expected outputs, and timelines of their respective subWGs. Progress updates were shared on two ongoing manuscripts from subWGs 3.5 and 3.6. In addition, participants explored various presentation formats for the PAW indicator catalogue, one of WG3’s most important and valuable deliverables.
The group also reviewed preliminary survey data collected via the EUSurvey platform on farm managers’ perceptions and acceptability of PAW in dairy cattle farming. Challenges related to the time-intensive translation of surveys into non-English European languages were discussed, and potential solutions were proposed. A substantial time slot was dedicated to refining survey questions that are still pending circulation.
SubWG 3.3 leaders took the opportunity to hold their first kick-off meeting, during which they outlined the anticipated work plan, proposed a structured approach, and presented preliminary survey results to initiate brainstorming on possible data analysis strategies. Towards the end of the meeting, leaders from subWGs 3.3 and 3.4 discussed feasible methodologies for the second round of consultation and agreed to reconvene online in February to further develop the methodology.
Between the two meeting days, we invited Dr. Oriol Talló, a researcher from the Ethology Group at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, to deliver an invited talk on 13 ideas from zoo animal welfare that could inspire positive animal welfare research in farm animals. The presentation offered an inspiring and thought-provoking moment for all participants.
As researchers working in animal welfare science, the talk highlighted how approaches to welfare challenges can vary greatly depending on the species a researcher is working with. It was particularly striking to see that many key elements of Positive Animal Welfare (PAW), such as competence, agency, and providing animals with choice or control over their environment, have been explored more extensively in zoo animal welfare than in farm animal contexts. The slides from this talk are available in the Members Area.
During the two roundtable discussions, anticipated manuscripts and outcomes from all subWGs were reviewed, and responsibilities were allocated to ensure steady progress on deliverables. The meeting concluded with the finalization of an updated work timeline (see figure below), setting a clear path forward for WG3 activities.
Figure. New timeline agreed for WG3 in 2026
Finally, enjoying calçots (traditional Catalan green onions) served with romesco sauce is an unmissable winter experience when visiting Catalonia. For one of the social dinner events, the organizing team selected a traditional Catalan grillhouse, giving participants the opportunity to savor this iconic local dish. 🙂
