Frida Lundmark Hedman

Before my academic career, I worked with animal welfare at the governmental level. First as an animal welfare inspector and later as an officer at the Central Competent Authority in Sweden (Swedish Animal Welfare Agency/the Swedish Board of Agriculture). Having worked practically with animal welfare and legislation is a strength now that I conduct research and teach in this field.

My doctoral thesis (2016) examined different regulatory frameworks and underlying values that govern and influence animal welfare and animal welfare inspections. It was an interdisciplinary project that included subjects such as animal protection, animal welfare, ethics, and law. Animal welfare is inherently interdisciplinary, which makes it complex, but since reality itself is complex, different aspects need to be considered in order for results to be applicable in practice.

My research focuses on animal welfare and what we humans do, and can do, to provide animals with a certain level of welfare. Much of my research is connected to the regulatory frameworks surrounding animal welfare. Areas I have focused on in recent years include:

• Animal keepers’ experiences and perceptions of undergoing animal welfare inspections
• Animal welfare inspectors’ experiences and perceptions of conducting animal welfare inspections
• Strategies for creating more uniform animal welfare inspections
• Compliance with and enforcement of animal welfare legislation
• The protection system surrounding animals used for scientific purposes
• Straw provision for pigs
• Cattle cleanliness
• Welfare assessment of cows kept outdoors

Below are links to pages where some of the research projects I participate in are described in more detail.

I teach and supervise students in the field of animal welfare across various programs and courses at SLU, at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4842-5636

Research Gate - Frida Lundmark Hedman

Examples of publications: 

• Wallgren, T. and Lundmark Hedman, F. 2026. Compliance and contradiction: the unenforced ban on tail-docking in pigs. Frontiers in Animal Sciences, 7:1808261. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2026.1808261
• Andersson, M., Hägglund, A., Westin, R. & Lundmark Hedman, F. 2025. Dairy farmers and their views on cow cleanliness: A qualitative study. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A — Animal Science https://doi.org/10.1080/09064702.2025.2558213
• Lundmark Hedman F, Karlsson M and Yngvesson J. 2025. Homeless cats, a societal problem - an analysis of the collaboration between cat shelters and the competent authorities in Sweden. Frontiers in Animal Sciences, 6:1629711. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1629711
• Lundmark Hedman F, Ewerlöf IR, Frössling J and Berg C. 2025. Official and private animal welfare inspectors’ perception of their own on-site inspections. Front. Vet. Sci. 12:1575471. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1575471
• Göransson, L. & Lundmark Hedman, F. 2024. The perks of being an organic chicken – animal welfare science on the key features of organic poultry production. Frontiers in Animal Sciences, 5:1400384. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1400384  
• Sandøe, P., Hansen, H.O., Bokkers, E.A.M., Enemark, P.S., Forkman, B., Haskell, M.J., Lundmark Hedman, F., Houe, H., Mandel, R., Nielsen, S.S., de Olde, E.M., Palmer, C., Vogeler C.S. and Christensen, T. 2023. Dairy cattle welfare – the relative effect of legislation, industry standards and labelled niche production in five European countries, Animal, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2023.101009
• Lundmark Hedman, F., Rodriguez Ewerlöf, I., Frössling, J. and Berg, C. 2022. Swedish dairy farmers’ perceptions of animal welfare inspections. Frontiers in Animal Sciences, 3:1079457. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2022.1079457
• Lundmark Hedman, F., Rodriguez Ewerlöf, I., Frössling, J., Berg, C. 2022. Swedish Trotting Horse Trainers’ Perceptions of Animal Welfare Inspections from Public and
  Private Actors. Animals, 12, 1441. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12111441
• Lundmark Hedman, F.; Berg, C.; Stéen, M. 2021. Thirty Years of Changes and the Current State of Swedish Animal Welfare Legislation. Animals, 11, 2901. https://
  doi.org/10.3390/ani11102901  
• Lundmark Hedman, F., Veggeland, F., Vågsholm, I. & Berg, C. 2021. Managing Animal Welfare in Food Governance in Norway and Sweden: Challenges in Implementation and Coordination. Animals, 11, 1899. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11071899
• Berg, C. & Lundmark Hedman, F. 2020. Compliance with animal welfare regulations: drivers and consequences. CAB Reviews, 15(025), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1079/PAVSNNR202015025
• Lundmark, F., Berg, C. & Röcklinsberg, H. 2018. Private Animal Welfare Standards – Opportunities and Risks. Animals, 8(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8010004
• Loberg, J.M. & Lundmark, F. 2016. The effect of space on behaviour in large groups of domestic cats kept indoors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 182, 23-29.
• Lundmark, F., Berg, C., Schmid, O., Behdadi, D. & Röcklinsberg, H. 2014. Intentions and Values in Animal Welfare Legislation and Standards. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 27(6), 991-1017. DOI 10.1007/s10806-014-9512-0