Outcomes and impacts
Expected outcomes
The EUP AH&W will contribute to 7 expected outcomes (EO):
- EO1: A streamlined and regularly updated pan-European SRIA regarding AH&W, leading to a strengthened European research consortium bridging animal health and welfare.
The EUP AH&W SRIA presents a long-term strategic vision including broad research domains that will guide the partnership’s activities. It is a dynamic document that will be regularly evaluated to keep the activities of the EUP AH&W aligned with the needs of the field.
- EO2: Development of a robust European R&I ecosystem for AH&W.
The EUP AH&W will launch an internal programme and external research calls in the five AH&W priority areas. The overall goal of this centralized organisation of internal activities and external research calls in the field of AH&W is to identify critical and urgent R&I requirements, align regional, national, and EU-level research funding opportunities and mobilize the most appropriate actors to perform state-of-the-art research that will feed into outcomes for further scientific activities, society, and policymakers.
- EO3: A comprehensive knowledge framework integrating EU, national and regional data, and information infrastructures to improve transnational research.
The R&I system that will be put in place through the EUP AH&W will lead to innovations in the priority areas defined by the SRIA. Expected outcomes include: an outcome inventory and a Data Management Plan (DMP); a hub for innovation and technical transfer to provide online guidance regarding the exploitation of outputs, a glossary containing key terminology on AH&W subject matter to promote cross-cutting multidisciplinary cooperation, collaboration and communication; a list of European topic-specific educators in the priority areas of the EUP AH&W.
- EO4: Increased preparedness and prevention for upcoming and emerging infectious threats to animal and human health, including AMR, zoonoses (One Health) and vector-borne diseases.
This will be facilitated through R&I activities that center around the 4 main priority areas of the EUP AH&W, as defined in the SRIA and described above.
- EO5: Increased awareness on animal welfare (One Welfare), and strengthened AW on farms, during transport and at slaughter.
A key goal of the EUP AH&W is to further develop the research field of ‘positive welfare’ and promote animal welfare along the entire production process both in livestock and aquaculture sectors. Animal welfare awareness will be boosted through a selection of communication and training and education activities. The EUP AH&W will offer the right environment to balance animal welfare together with animal health, and to make sure that any development in one of the other fields will be favorable, not detrimental to the other.
- EO6: Farmers, veterinarians and other actors involved in animal production have access to innovative methodologies in the field of AH&W.
Central to the translation of the innovative R&I results of the EUP AH&W to the market will be the hub for innovation and technical transfer providing advice on Intellectual Property (IP), product development, regulatory matters and business development. Specific relevant actors will be informed on the outcomes of the EUP AH&W trough targeted activities.
- EO7: An increased evidence-base provided to AH&W policymakers.
New scientific insights and innovations obtained by the EUP AH&W are relevant to policy makers. To ensure that these policy makers and the relevant regulatory authorities as well as stakeholders remain up to date on these results, beside the communication and dissemination activities, targeted policy briefs will be prepared and disseminated.
Expected impacts
In the longer term the outcomes will lead to impact:
- Scientific level
The R&I agenda of the EUP AH&W will deliver outcomes in terms of scientific progress in different related fields or priority areas, namely: surveillance/monitoring systems and risk assessment; procedures, methodologies and tools to assess AH&W, treatment and vaccines and an integrated approach on AH&W including socioeconomic aspects.
The overarching goal will be to strengthen the scientific knowledge base in the European Research Area.
- Economic/technological level
New tools and methodologies will be developed that contribute to a sustainable animal production in value chains and boost EU competitiveness from primary animal production to consumption.
Furthermore, these tools will lead to a better prevention and control of animal infectious diseases and strengthened welfare, eventually resulting in a more protected economic viability and sustainability of livestock and aquaculture farming systems.
- Societal level
The outcomes of the EUP AH&W will contribute to solutions for sustainability challenges from primary production to consumption, thus adding to food safety and security in Europe. Through implementing an aligned R&I agenda at the national and transnational level, the creation of new knowledge and sharing it with all partners, as well as delivering new scientific advice that may influence policy guidelines at national and EU levels, the Partnership will contribute to the Farm to Fork strategy, the European Green Deal and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Research & Innovation under the flagship of the EUP AH&W will contribute to the transition towards sustainable, safe, healthy and inclusive food systems, delivering co-benefits for the environment, health, society and economy. Through promoting AH&W with a profitable effect on public health and the environment, the Partnership will bring health benefits in a One Health – One Welfare approach.
Concrete actions in the first phase of the partnership
Besides the organisation of an external research call, the internal programme started in January 2024 with seventeen Joint Internal Projects (JIPs). Joint Internal Projects consist of Joint Integrative Actions for which no research activities are required, such as certain reference activities, development of standards, etc., and Joint Research Actions, which will focus on applied, policy-driven research. Together with the 5 Work Packages (SOA1-5), JIPs are included as Set of Activities (SOA6-SOA22) in the Grant Agreement. Member-RPO contribute through in-kind funding to these first round JIPs, that are listed below:
- A European wildlife network for terrestrial and aquatic mammals and birds (integrative).
- Wildlife and diseases of aquatic organisms: A European perspective (integrative).
- Surveillance of pathogens of veterinary importance and their antimicrobial resistance profiles (integrative).
- Knowledge platform in the EU with the objective to collect, analyse, share and use integrated scientific and technical data on AW (integrative).
- Rapid Risk Assessment: Improvement of epidemic intelligence methodologies (research).
- Knowledge on priority pathogens, infectious diseases and their detection methods (research).
- Better tools for diagnosis of infectious diseases (research).
- Assessment of positive welfare; defining animal-based measures (research).
- Livestock and fish welfare at slaughter and when killing for e.g., disease control and emergency killing; development of technologies, procedures and/or protocols to increase the reliability of methods which assess consciousness and death (research).
- Biosecurity measures to prevent and control AID on farm and during transport taking into account effects on AW (integrative).
- Reinforcement of animal resilience through fundamental and applied research addressing e.g. animal feeding and breeding (research).
- Sustainability aspects of AW-promoting livestock systems; establish a multidisciplinary network of experts to draft foresight and priority studies with focus on sustainability aspects related to non-cage systems, indoor and outdoor systems for livestock, animal transportation and slaughter, killing on farm, in slaughterhouses or stunning and killing after fishing, and focussing on ending mutilations, including aquaculture production systems (integrative).
- Pathogen-microbiome interactions, immune system & mechanisms of AMR (research).
- Development of new antimicrobial and antiparasitic compounds and of tools for assessing their efficacy and safety (research).
- Study the role of the immune system of farm animals (research).
- Develop tools such as vaccine platforms and expression systems, immunological toolboxes and delivery system (research).
- Assess the economic and societal burden of selected priority diseases and production diseases (research).
