Thanks to the warm hospitality of our host, Maria Karatzia, WG3 subWG leaders gathered in sunny Thessaloniki for their final hybrid subWG leaders’ meeting on the 5th and 6th of May 2026.
The meeting focused on advancing WG3’s key deliverables and scientific manuscripts, reviewing the progress of stakeholder survey responses, and initiating preparations for the second round of stakeholder consultations.
As the work across many of WG3’s sub-working groups is closely interconnected, bringing the subWG leaders together in person provided an excellent opportunity to facilitate discussions, make joint decisions, and ensure smooth coordination between the different subWGs. Several sessions were also held in a hybrid format, allowing online participants to stay informed and contribute to the discussions in real time.
A major topic of the meeting was the analysis and communication of the stakeholder surveys. The subWG leaders discussed strategies for grouping and analyzing the survey data, as well as ways to increase the visibility of the surveys through social media and other communication channels.
The meeting also resulted in significant progress on two scientific manuscripts. The first, an opinion paper based on the WG3 deliverable, examines how prepared we are to implement positive animal welfare assessments on farms. The manuscript is now in its final drafting stage and is close to submission. The second manuscript is a collaborative effort with the sister project SOA13 of the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare. This work explores how the feasibility of animal welfare indicators can be described objectively and consistently. The collaboration has already been accepted for an oral presentation (see the hyperlink for the abstract) at the SciFAW Centenary Conference 2026, and the meeting provided an opportunity to launch the manuscript writing process.
The final session of the meeting focused on preparations for the upcoming LIFT Workshop in London in June, including the development of posters, presentations, and the roundtable discussion.
The Thessaloniki meeting marked an important milestone for WG3, strengthening collaboration across subWGs and ensuring strong momentum as WG3 moves toward its final deliverables and upcoming consultation activities.
