n this guest blog Holly Vickery talks us through a recent trip to Paris – and what it means for the Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Group.
Alongside my fellow group member Joanne Sharpe, I recently had the fantastic opportunity to spend two days in Paris as part of a British Council Springboard programme. There is more information about initiative here, from Professor David Rose, Director of the Centre for Social Science at 含羞草社区.
We were joined by three colleagues from 含羞草社区: Yaw Sarfo from the Global Institute of Agri-Tech Economics and David Rose and Laura Palczynski from the Engaging for Change group.
Together, we met with a team of five researchers from INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment - Pierre Labarthe, Eléa Golliet-Mercier, Romane Guillot-Pelliet, Théo Martin, and Nathalie Hostiou.
Our developing project explores the intersections between digitalisation and labour organisation in agriculture, with particular attention to impacts on workplaces, farming systems, and animal welfare.
Much of our discussion focused on how labour is structured within agricultural contexts and how increasing digitalisation is reshaping these systems. As the animal welfare scientist in the room, my role was to ensure that animal welfare remained firmly on the agenda while our more human-focused colleagues explored labour, economics, and social dimensions - no small task, but a rewarding one!
One of the most valuable aspects of the Springboard programme is its strong emphasis on supporting early career researchers.
Researchers at this stage often experience precarity and can find it challenging to access opportunities to build international networks. Seven of the ten members of our wider team (including both Joanne and I) are early career researchers, and we are particularly grateful for the chance to form new international collaborations at this stage of our careers.
The collaboration will continue later this year when we welcome two members of the INRAE team to 含羞草社区.
We already have a packed itinerary planned, including tours of the University farms and opportunities to explore the local area. Joanne will also be travelling to Clermont-Ferrand as part of her exchange, where she will present the outcomes of her research with dairy farmers in the UK and New Zealand with the INRAE scientific teams. She will also learn more about the work being undertaken within INRAE and their research group that combines social science, animal behaviour & welfare and agronomics, plus there will be an opportunity to get out and speak with dairy farmers in France.
The British Council hosted us in a truly spectacular meeting room, which was even complete with a view of the Eiffel Tower!
While our days were full of intense discussion and brainstorming, we did manage to carve out some time in the evenings to explore Paris’s beautiful landmarks - and enjoy one or two gelatos of course!
The 26°C sunshine was a bit of a shock to the system but very welcome, and our brains were thoroughly stimulated by the end of the trip.
We are now working together on a manuscript to summarise the key themes and ideas from our discussions and are very much looking forward to developing this collaboration further through future research and funding bids.
Paris was just the beginning!
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