26 June 2026 | Royal Veterinary College, Royal College St, London, NW1 0TU
The final Workshop of the COST Action LIFT “Lifting Farm Animal Lives – laying the foundations for positive animal welfare” will present deliverables and main outcomes of the Action and discuss impact and potential future activities on positive animal welfare.
The workshop will take place immediately following, the UFAW Centenary Conference 2026.
Register here (free of charge): https://event.au.dk/events/cost-action-lift-workshop-london
PROGRAM
8h30 Registration
9h00 Opening by Local Organisers
9h05 Welcome and introduction by chair Margit Bak Jensen
9h15 Plenary talk: Key conceptual challenges of positive animal welfare by Jean-Loup Rault.
9h35 Panel session with representatives of the working groups on the definition of positive welfare, the timescales of affect, socio-individual factors modulating positive welfare, the 4 why’s of positive affect, the mapping of positive welfare terms, and bridging disciplines in the field of positive welfare.
9h55 Plenary talk: Key advances in assessing positive animal welfare and promising future methodologies by Linda Keeling
10h15 Panel session with representatives of working groups on methodologies, code of good research practice, the STRANGE framework, choice and agency, low arousal positive affect, affect balance, biomarkers of cumulative affect, circadian rhythms, play behaviour, neurobiology of positive affect, and affect-driven cognitive biases.
10h35 Poster session and coffee – each working group will present their work in a poster.
11h35 Plenary talk: How close are we to assessing positive animal welfare on farm? by Pol Llonch
11h55 Panel session with representatives of working groups on selecting feasible indicators of positive welfare, identifying and consulting with stakeholders, organising workshops with stakeholders, exploring technologies for on-farm monitoring of positive welfare and OneWelfare integrations.
12h30 Lunch
14h00 Introduction to break-out session by core group
14h15 Break-out sessions – After 4 years of LIFT, where do we go from here?
- Gaps in research – creation of a common research agenda for the future
- Key challenges in the field of positive animal welfare – what is needed to ensure cohesion and high-quality research in this field?
- Dialogue with stakeholders: how can we best exchange views, opinions and ideas with stakeholders?
- Elevated dissemination – what are the most efficient and fun ways to disseminate our work and achieve impact?
15h30 Poster session and coffee
16h00 Main messages from each break-out group, with closing and thanks by the core group.
17h00 End
Workshop programme for download here.
Info pack available for download here.
