Minds on: Adressing the challenges of Animal research communication

The Babraham Institute (BI), partner of the EU-LIFE alliance organized last week an EU-LIFE Workshop on Communicating Animal Research. Aimed at sharing knowledge about institutional strategies to (better) communicate animal research, the workshop gathered 35 experts from over 20 organizations such as EU-LIFE and Cambridge-based research institutes, private biotech companies, universities, private foundations, NOG’s and other relevant associations.

In a blend of talks and sharing-experiences sessions, participants discussed relevant initiatives such as the Concordata in the UK, the upcoming review of the European Directive on the use of animals in research and how to engage with different publics on animal research.

Inspiring talks included:

• Current position in the UK and the Concordata on Openess of Animal Research, by Bella Williams, from Understanding Animal Research
• The European policy perspectives and national initiatives, by Emma Sanchez, European Animal Research Association
• The Babraham strategy on moving towards openness, by Louisa Wood, Paul Symonds and Marc Wilstshire, BI
• Presenting animal research to outreach audiences, by Michael Hinton (BI) and Theresa Langford, MRS-LMB

Thanks to The Babraham Institute for the excellent organization and all participants for such great knowledge sharing!