In February, leaders from the eight registered Sub-WGs in WG2 met in Bratislava, Slovakia for two days. The aim was to support them in their work and to discuss issues common to all Sub-WGs. The meeting was led by Linda Keeling, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala and leader of WG2. The local organisers were Lubor Kostal and his team from the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava.
Most of these Sub-WG are directed towards writing scientific papers, dealing in some way with methodologies to assess positive animal welfare. It was a good way to network and update each other on progress. Charlotte Goursot from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, gave tips and tricks to get a Sub-WG working effectively, based on her experience co-leading Sub-WG 1.4 in WG1. This inspirational presentation stimulated discussions ranging from managing a large number of co-authors and keeping deadlines, to which programs to use for sharing documents and references. The exchange of experiences will not only help the ongoing Sub-WGs, but also make it easier for new Sub-WGs to progress more quickly.
