Partnership

Positive Animal Welfare team

The Positive Animal Welfare (PAW) team of Wageningen University & Research integrates all research in the field of positive animal welfare, including the study of positive affective states (emotions and moods), and longer integrated positive states such as flourishing and happiness. This team combines the disciplines of ethology, physiology, brain development, including work on animal cognition and health. It brings together experts from various groups within animal and plant science.

The team

The picture above shows some of our members, from left to
right, and from back row to front row: Inonge Reimert, Ingrid de Jong, Hans
Spoolder, Simon Oosting, Liesbeth Bolhuis, Laura Webb and Allyson Ipema.

All of our current members:

EU projects

The PAW team currently focuses on two big EU initiatives:

1. Cost Action LIFTing farm animal lives – laying the foundation for positive animal welfare

    This action aims to bring cohesion to the new scientific field of positive animal welfare, through networking, collaboration, short term scientific missions, training schools and work on specific sub-topics in small working groups. The action focuses on four main areas, divided into four working groups: 1) defining key concepts; 2) identifying methodologies and establishing codes of good research practice; 3) investigating possible on-farm applications; and 4) dissemination and communication.

    Our PAW team is vice chair (Laura Webb) and very active in the Cost Action LIFT in various sub working-groups, including: timescale of affect, affect balance and low arousal affect. Many fantastic conceptual papers and inspiring collaborations have emerged from this amazing network of people from across the world.

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    2. European Partnership on Animal Health & Welfare – action of Positive Animal Welfare

    The work of this action within the larger European Partnership focuses on identifying valid animal-based indicators of positive affect in farm ruminants, pigs and poultry. The work is divided into three tasks: 1) identifying the ingredients needed to validly research indicators (theory); 2) empirically validating indicators; 3) proposing protocols for on-farm assessment of these indicators. Our team is leading several tasks and we are members of many more tasks focusing on laying hens, cattle, and pigs.

    Other projects

    These are our other running or upcoming projects at Wageningen University & Reseach:

    Broilers on a straw bale