Culture of Care Half Day Event 10th November 2022 Scientists and animal technicians had the opportunity to find out more about what a “Culture of Care” in the context of animal research means at this year’s University of Edinburgh Culture of Care Day, held in November. A good Culture of Care is recognized as being key to the welfare of the animals in research facilities, to supporting staff and high quality research. In the UK, the important work of promoting and supporting a good Culture of Care is one of the responsibilities of the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB). This year, the University’s AWERB and in particular the 3R’s committee focused on Culture of Care and proposed an event to explore the many facets of this topic. The day included talks on environmental enrichment, experimental design, positive animal welfare, and difficulties around discussing work with research animals. One of the Named Veterinary Surgeons, Caroline Quigley, started the day with a summary of the results of The University’s Culture of Care Survey, where we asked staff involved with animals in research what they would like to find out more about. This was followed by a fantastic talk by Dr. Dorothy McKeegan (University of Glasgow) on environmental enrichment for laboratory poultry where she explained the importance of environmental enrichment and shared some of her work looking at specific enrichments in commercial poultry facilities. We were then joined by Prof. Malcolm MacLeod (University of Edinburgh) speaking about the importance of well-designed research studies for the validity and replicability of scientific findings. He discussed the Edinburgh University Research Optimization Course (EUROC), the value of pre-publications and the importance of prompt dissemination of results. The next talk was from Prof. Beth Greenhough from the University of Oxford who shared her work using story-telling and role play to stimulate discussion and greater understanding between people in different roles to promote and develop a Culture of Care. The initial feedback from these sessions has been extremely positive and Beth’s group are going to make this resource available for wider uptake. The final talk with was from Prof. Alistair Lawrence, who discussed the importance of promoting positive experiences in animals lives as well as minimizing harms and he shared some practical ways to promote positive welfare, such as rat tickling. We finished the morning with a panel discussion on the topic “What do we talk about when we talk about work?” where our community shared their experiences and concerns of discussing their work with people outside work. The morning was a great opportunity to reflect on different aspects of Culture of Care and to promote discussion and new ideas, which could help support the Culture of Care within the University of Edinburgh. Program: 09:15-09:30 Welcome and introduction 09:30-10:00 Towards effective environmental enrichment for laboratory poultry, Dr. Dorothy McKeegan, University of Glasgow 10:00-10:30 The little things that might make a little difference: research quality, research systems and prompt dissemination. Prof. Malcolm MacLeod, University of Edinburgh 11:15-11:45 Sharing care-full stories: introducing a new training resources to help promote and develop a Culture of Care. Prof. Beth Greenhough, University of Oxford 11:45-12:15 Positive animal welfare and its relevance to Culture of Care. Prof. Alistair Lawrence, SRUC and University of Edinburgh 12:15-12:50 Panel discussion: “What do we talk about when we talk about work?” Chaired by Dr. Elaine Emmerson, University of Edinburgh Nov 10 2022 09.15 - 13.00 Culture of Care Half Day Event 10th November 2022 As part of our focus on “Culture of Care” this year, we ran an event based on the feedback we gathered from all of you through the Culture of Care survey. QMRI Auditorium 47 Little France Crescent Edinburgh EH16 4TJ
Culture of Care Half Day Event 10th November 2022 Scientists and animal technicians had the opportunity to find out more about what a “Culture of Care” in the context of animal research means at this year’s University of Edinburgh Culture of Care Day, held in November. A good Culture of Care is recognized as being key to the welfare of the animals in research facilities, to supporting staff and high quality research. In the UK, the important work of promoting and supporting a good Culture of Care is one of the responsibilities of the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB). This year, the University’s AWERB and in particular the 3R’s committee focused on Culture of Care and proposed an event to explore the many facets of this topic. The day included talks on environmental enrichment, experimental design, positive animal welfare, and difficulties around discussing work with research animals. One of the Named Veterinary Surgeons, Caroline Quigley, started the day with a summary of the results of The University’s Culture of Care Survey, where we asked staff involved with animals in research what they would like to find out more about. This was followed by a fantastic talk by Dr. Dorothy McKeegan (University of Glasgow) on environmental enrichment for laboratory poultry where she explained the importance of environmental enrichment and shared some of her work looking at specific enrichments in commercial poultry facilities. We were then joined by Prof. Malcolm MacLeod (University of Edinburgh) speaking about the importance of well-designed research studies for the validity and replicability of scientific findings. He discussed the Edinburgh University Research Optimization Course (EUROC), the value of pre-publications and the importance of prompt dissemination of results. The next talk was from Prof. Beth Greenhough from the University of Oxford who shared her work using story-telling and role play to stimulate discussion and greater understanding between people in different roles to promote and develop a Culture of Care. The initial feedback from these sessions has been extremely positive and Beth’s group are going to make this resource available for wider uptake. The final talk with was from Prof. Alistair Lawrence, who discussed the importance of promoting positive experiences in animals lives as well as minimizing harms and he shared some practical ways to promote positive welfare, such as rat tickling. We finished the morning with a panel discussion on the topic “What do we talk about when we talk about work?” where our community shared their experiences and concerns of discussing their work with people outside work. The morning was a great opportunity to reflect on different aspects of Culture of Care and to promote discussion and new ideas, which could help support the Culture of Care within the University of Edinburgh. Program: 09:15-09:30 Welcome and introduction 09:30-10:00 Towards effective environmental enrichment for laboratory poultry, Dr. Dorothy McKeegan, University of Glasgow 10:00-10:30 The little things that might make a little difference: research quality, research systems and prompt dissemination. Prof. Malcolm MacLeod, University of Edinburgh 11:15-11:45 Sharing care-full stories: introducing a new training resources to help promote and develop a Culture of Care. Prof. Beth Greenhough, University of Oxford 11:45-12:15 Positive animal welfare and its relevance to Culture of Care. Prof. Alistair Lawrence, SRUC and University of Edinburgh 12:15-12:50 Panel discussion: “What do we talk about when we talk about work?” Chaired by Dr. Elaine Emmerson, University of Edinburgh Nov 10 2022 09.15 - 13.00 Culture of Care Half Day Event 10th November 2022 As part of our focus on “Culture of Care” this year, we ran an event based on the feedback we gathered from all of you through the Culture of Care survey. QMRI Auditorium 47 Little France Crescent Edinburgh EH16 4TJ
Nov 10 2022 09.15 - 13.00 Culture of Care Half Day Event 10th November 2022 As part of our focus on “Culture of Care” this year, we ran an event based on the feedback we gathered from all of you through the Culture of Care survey.
