The first in-person meeting of the four EU Reference Centres for Animal Welfare (EURCAW Pigs, Poultry & Small Farm Animal, Ruminants & Equines, & Aqua) was held on 6 & 7 June in Thessaloniki, Greece. With approx. 40 participants the meeting started with a series of interesting ice-breakers, followed by interactive sessions to exchange ideas about communications and training, quality assurance and scientific outputs.

On the second day, members of each Centre were asked to present three minute pitches on ‘What are you proud of – a great way to share experiences! A World Cafe format was then used to discuss seven themes for the new three year work programme (2025-2027). The four EURCAWs have agreed to collaborate on new cross-Centre activities, focusing on a number of exciting initiatives – more to come!