Having the highest number of LIFT members in this country, we held the 2-day WG3 physical meeting in Turkey on the 27th and 28th of February 2025. Thanks to the heart-warming local organizer Özkan Elmaz from Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, the location was chosen to be in Antalya, a beautiful port city embraced by the Taurus mountains. Moreover, the venue was the Cultural Center of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, which gave LIFT an opportunity to expose our research activity on positive animal welfare (PAW) to the local government.
The primary focus of this meeting was to advance the initial part of WG3 activities, including selection of PAW indicators to be consulted, identification of the stakeholders, and survey construction. Discussions including preparation of the upcoming training school, as well as an overview of WG3’s outcomes (i.e., publication, report, catalog), were also carried out. 12 LIFT members (8 from ITC; 4 ECRs) were invited to attend the in-person meeting. Two sessions were done in the hybrid format, allowing feedback from online participants.
The physical meeting was kicked off by the opening speeches from WG3 leader (Pol Llonch), local organizer (Özkan Elmaz), and the head of the local agriculture department. We then headed straight to the selection of PAW indicators (subWG 3.1) from the list that we had circulated previously among LIFT WG2 subWG leaders and the rest of the members. We selected the indicators by species, and the criteria were mainly those that can be used directly on farm, don’t need further lab analysis, have robust scientific literature support, or have potential but not yet proven. Combining the research keywords used in subWG 3.5, we now have a preliminary list of indicators to be consulted with the stakeholders in the surveys.
As for subWG 3.2, the tool to construct and translate the surveys has been selected, and the main questions to be included in the surveys and the compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have been reviewed. During the discussion, we believed that providing a ‘simple version’ of the definition of PAW would help the stakeholders to have a common understanding when answering the surveys. Therefore, it will be a collaborative work between WG3 and WG4 to produce a simple version of PAW definition and coordinate the translation of important terms into several European languages in the following months.
Lastly, the outcomes of WG3 have been brainstormed. These outcomes are mainly, but not limited to, journal papers. Other outcomes include the project deliverables, reports for LIFT website, and the most important final product of WG3, which is the catalog of PAW indicators feasible to be used on farm.
Having WG1 and WG2 to define the concepts and to identify valid methodologies, WG3 is working on transferring knowledge to practice, devoted to engaging different stakeholders to be on board to apply PAW practices and assessment to the real world. 2025 and 2026 are going to be the most active years for WG3.
Written by Heng-Lun Ko
