Organisation
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) was formed in
1977 through the joining together of three previously independent
university colleges. It is the only agricultural and veterinary
university in Sweden and is unique among other universities in that
it is located under the Ministry of Agriculture and therefore also
has an important advisory role and sector responsibility. Sweden has
traditionally had a strong interest in animal welfare and the
Department of Animal Environment and Health has been carrying out
high quality research in the area for over 30 years with a strong
international network of collaborators. Members are/have been active
in most relevant national forums as well as internationally e.g.
Council of Europe, and EU/EFSA scientific committees. The research
focus was farm animal welfare but is now extended to include
companion animal welfare. There is considerable combined experience
of managing large national and international projects.
Main task in project
SLU manages WP3 on the development of policy instruments in the
route towards the aims of the Action Plan on Animal Welfare.
Furthermore, SLU is involved in WP0, WP1, WP2 and WP4 and are part
of the core team.
Experience and network
Linda Keeling will be the main representative involved in this
project. She is:
- Co-ordinator of the 5-country Nordic research project ‘Group
housing and managing horses under Nordic conditions: strategies to
improve horse welfare and human safety’
- Sub project leader and partner of ‘Welfare Quality: Integration of
Integration of animal welfare in the food quality chain: from public
concern to improved welfare and transparent quality’
- Partner in the EU project ‘Feather pecking solutions through
understanding’
- Country representative in COST Action on measuring and monitoring
animal welfare
Staff members
Prof. Linda Keeling (Ph.D.) holds the Chair in Animal Welfare at SLU
with overall responsibility for teaching and research in the area.
She will be the main person in the department involved in this
project. She is a member of the Board of the Swedish Animal Welfare
Agency, former editor of the journal ‘Animal Welfare’ and former
president of the International Society of Applied Ethology. She is
active at several levels in the animal welfare debate in Sweden and
abroad and is a regular speaker on animal welfare at international
meetings. She has considerable experience managing projects. She is
the coordinator of an inter Nordic research project on horse welfare
and sub project leader in the EU project Welfare Quality as well as
leader of many smaller projects. She has been a member of several
EU/EFSA/Council of Europe scientific working groups.
Also located in the Department of Animal Environment and Health are
Prof. Harry Blokhuis who is taking up the Chair in Ethology and
Prof. Bo Algers who is Professor of Animal Hygiene. Both are members
to the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare of the European
Food Safety Authority and are active nationally and internationally
in the area of animal welfare policy. Harry Blokhuis is currently
coordinator of the project Welfare Quality and has been coordinator
of several other EU projects and networks. Bo Algers was in the
Programme coordinating team of a large Swedish project on
sustainable agriculture and is active in Nordic project. Members of
the department have received national and international awards for
excellence in animal welfare research such as the Felix Wankel
Tiershutzforschungspreis and Guldtackan.