Welfare Footprint Institute

Workshops

WFI workshops give participants the theoretical foundations and practical tools to assess and quantify animal welfare with the Welfare Footprint Framework (WFF): estimating the negative and positive affective experiences of animals across living conditions, production systems and species.

Our workshops have been delivered in several countries to researchers, veterinarians, industry professionals, regulatory agencies, zoos and pain scientists, among others.

Who the workshops are for

  • Researchers can estimate the time animals spend in affective states of different intensities under different welfare challenges and production systems, and identify research gaps in their field.
  • Veterinarians can describe, estimate and compare the pain caused by different diseases and injuries, using a consistent notation and metric.
  • Animal scientists can quantify the welfare effects of different nutritional, genetic and management practices, and relate those effects to their costs.
  • Certification bodies can draw on quantitative welfare estimates for different practices and production systems when developing and reviewing standards.
  • Funders can compare the welfare impact of interventions quantitatively.

The workshops teach the method. Taking part does not mean that WFI certifies or endorses a participant’s organisation, practices, products or analyses.

What participants learn

  • Describe how affective states progress over time and quantify them as Cumulative Pain and Cumulative Pleasure.
  • Measure and compare welfare impacts across species, environments and interventions.
  • Bring neurological, behavioural, physiological and evolutionary evidence into transparent welfare assessments.
  • Use WFI’s AI tools for rapid first-pass analyses, with human verification.
  • Identify knowledge gaps in welfare science.

Structure

The workshops focus on hands-on application and collaborative learning, in two modules.

  1. Theoretical moduleAn introduction to the WFF, including pain intensities, temporal dynamics and cumulative metrics.
  2. Practical moduleParticipants analyse welfare questions of their choice with the framework, through interactive activities, group discussion and WFI’s AI tools. The tools produce rapid, scenario-specific first-pass results, so participants can focus on interpretation. They do not produce validated Welfare Footprint estimates.

Formats and delivery

2 hoursCompactAn introductory workshop on the fundamentals of the WFF.
8 hoursComprehensiveAn intensive workshop that combines learning with detailed practical exercises.
  • Online: free of charge.
  • In person: on request, with travel and accommodation expenses covered by the host organisation.

Request a workshop

To host a workshop for your event or organisation, tell us about your group and what you would like participants to learn.

e.g. who would attend and roughly how many, preferred dates or event, and what you would like participants to learn

Registered for an online workshop? See the workshop FAQ. For other ways to learn the framework, see Start Here.