On the 3rd and 4th of September 2025, 14 members from across all WGs met in Teramo, Italy for a meeting organised by WG1 leaders Jean-Loup Rault and Laura Whalin. The aim of the meeting was to address the question “How can Positive Animal Welfare move animal welfare science further?”. The meeting was hosted excellently by Matteo Chincarini from Teramo University, and included plenty of Italian and local food as well as a tour over the campus. Speakers shared their views about whether positive animal welfare brings progress to animal welfare science, and whether it reflects a paradigm shift. The two days were spent on presentations, discussions, a World cafe discussion round and writing of a draft manuscript. The group of participants will continue to work on the manuscript in this cross-WG collaboration.
On the 5th of September, the core group met alongside the WG1 meeting to discuss the plans for the final grand period. The main aims were to decide on the final activities and the budget that would be allocated to each. As it is the last year of the COST Action, plans for a final big event were discussed, as well as how the budget can be best allocated to support the subWGs with completing their manuscripts. The resulting Work and Budget Plan (WBP) has been submitted and will soon be circulated among the Management Committee (MC) members for approval. As soon as it is confirmed, the newly planned activities will be made known on the website.
Watch the video of the meetings here https://youtube.com/shorts/RqUwsIFvzfU?si=UJG3_WNtcPavzijt
