Activities 2016

Summer school: Why wildlife?

The GCUA Summer School on topic Why Wildlife was held at Lincoln University, New Zealand 30 January - 10 February 2016. A total of twelve students from four different universities from three continents attended.

Topics that were covered ranged from specifics about the New Zeeland wildlife, experiences from working together with indigenous communities, bioprotection/biosecurity issues and technical and statistical advancements in wildlife research and management, as well as general issues such as science communication and media experience.

The course included interactive sessions, workshops and also excursions.

Course leader was Dr James Ross

Summer school: Reducing antibiotic resistance in livestock farming

This summer school was arranged by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria 5-13 September 2016. The topic follow the 'Challenging the Post Antibiotic Era’ workshop (for academic staff) held in Uppsala, Sweden in November/December 2015.

The course included challenges and specific problems within the topic of 'Reducing Antibiotic Resistance in Livestock Farming'.  Lectures were held by experienced scientists, the course participants did group work and  went on a memorable field trip to an Austrian farm and to research stations.

Detailed information about the summer course

The course was led by Dr. Konrad Domig and Dr. Christine Leeb.

Workshop: Animal Welfare and the Sustainable Development Goals

18-20 June 2016, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden.

The workshop aimed at integrating animal welfare issues with their relevant sustainability development goals (SDGs) to identify knowledge-gaps and expand ideas of how to address them. Focus was on domesticated animals, mainly those kept for food production, draught and companion animals, but wild animals, whose natural environment is diminishing on account lf the increased global population and its need for natural resources will also be considered.

By using the methodology described in Nilsson, Griggs and Visbeck (2016, Nature, 534:320-322) links between animal welfare and the seventeen SDGs were first mapped, then prioritized and finally scored. Participants from SLU, BOKU, FAO, OIE, Michigan State University, University of Chile and the University of Rwanda engaged in this brain-twisting activity. A cross impact analysis following Weitz et al. (2018, Sustain Sci 13:531-548) was applied to identify knowledge gaps and future research areas to integrate animal welfare into broader sustainable goals and to monitor progress.