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Mapping farm animal welfare education at university level in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

G Illmann ,
L Keeling ,
M Melišová ,
M Šimečková ,
V Ilieski ,
C Winckler ,
L Košt’ál ,
M-C Meunier-Salaün ,
Š Mihina  and
H Spoolder
...Show all authors
G Illmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
L Keeling
Affiliation:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Environment and Health, Uppsala, Sweden
M Melišová
Affiliation:
Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
M Šimečková
Affiliation:
Biometric Unit, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
V Ilieski
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Morphology, Faculty for Veterinary Medicine, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
C Winckler
Affiliation:
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Division of Livestock Sciences, Vienna, Austria
L Košt’ál
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovakia
M-C Meunier-Salaün
Affiliation:
INRA-Agrocampus Ouest, UMRI348 PEGASE 35590, Saint-Gilles, France
Š Mihina
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia
H Spoolder
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
G Fthenakis
Affiliation:
Veterinary Faculty, University of Thessaly, Karditsa, Greece
R Šárová
Affiliation:
Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
M Špinka
Affiliation:
Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
*
* Contact for correspondence and request for reprints: gudrun.illmann@vuzv.cz
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Abstract

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The aim of this study was to map farm animal welfare university education in an enlarged Europe with emphasis on identifying existing differences and gaps. Information on 210 courses dealing with farm animal welfare from 98 universities in 26 European countries were obtained. Statistical analysis was carried out on 155 of these courses within animal science or veterinary programmes, at Bachelor and Master level and with the countries grouped into five regions (North West Europe, Mediterranean, West Central Europe, East Central Europe and Balkans). There were significantly more hours of teaching in animal welfare in the North West region of Europe. This region also had more ‘interactive’ education methods, eg group discussion and farm visits, whereas West Central Europe had most ‘transmissive’ methods, eg lecturing. A course was more likely to be given in English in North West Europe (even when the UK and the Republic of Ireland were excluded from the analysis) and East Central Europe compared to West Central Europe and the Balkans. There appeared to be no regional differences in the content of the courses although the focus was significantly more ‘applied’, ie towards welfare assessment and legislation in the veterinary education and more ‘fundamental’, ie oriented towards ethology, physiology and ethics, in the animal science education. In summary, the main differences in farm animal welfare education across Europe seem to be in the reduced number of hours of education, less interactive teaching and fewer courses in English available to students outside the North West region.

Keywords

animal scienceanimal welfareEuropefarm animalsuniversity educationveterinary medicine
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , November 2014 , pp. 401 - 410
Copyright
© 2014 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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