Preeliminary Programme
Regional ISAE East-West Central conference 2026

Conference Programme

Here you can explore the preliminary programme and meet our main speakers. It includes keynote lectures, oral and poster presentations, thematic sessions, and a workshop on current topics in applied ethology, animal welfare, and animal cognition

For a more detailed programme, please see the PDF.

The preliminary schedule is outlined below.

Tuesday, 9 June 2026: Welcome Ceremony and informal networking event in the evening.

Wednesday–Thursday, 10–11 June 2026: Scientific programme, including keynote lectures, oral sessions, poster presentations, and workshop.

Thursday, 11 June 2026: Conference Gala Dinner.

Friday, 12 June 2026: Excursions and social activities.

Meet our main speakers and their talks

Animal play in 3+ dimensions

Marek Špinka
Institute of Animal Science, Prague & Charles University, Czech Republic

Animal play is being intensely studied yet basic questions remain. Is play a coherent phenomenon or a hodgepodge collection of diverse behaviours? Are there distinct types of play? Is there a particular emotional/motivational mechanism underlying animal play? Is there a typical ontogenetic distribution of play? Does play have a common primary function? How widespread is play? What are the links between play and animal welfare?

Here I present a new Motor Account of Animal Play (MAAP) that may help to resolve some of the longstanding controversies about animal play. MAAP posits that:

animal play is primarily a motor phenomenon

play is a repetitive behaviour with in-build motoric self-handicapping

play cannot be split into a set of discrete categories

play diversity can be described using a three-dimensional model of play variability that scales continuously along terrain/medium, object, and social complexity dimensions

in terms of affective-motivational mechanisms, play is specific in that loss of control over own movement is affectively rewarding

play has an inverted-U ontogenetic course in mammals and probably in birds

the primary function of play seems to be to train general motoric versatility when it is cheap in early ontogeny

from this primary function many derived forms of play evolved with diverse functions

play originated independently in mammals and in birds, with the lack of data preventing any conclusions about phylogenetic origins of play in other taxa

juvenile play is a potential indicator of positive welfare because it is connected with positive affective states

juvenile play is also a contributor to positive welfare because it promotes future competence of the animals

In conclusion, the recent conceptual and empirical research indicates that play behaviour originated in mammals and in birds independently as a juvenile motor-versatility-training trait supported by devoted motor-control and motivational mechanisms. Further research is needed to support or correct this conjecture and to examine play in other understudied taxa.

What technologies can be used to assess positive animal welfare on commercial farms?

Océane Schmitt

Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Leihgesterner Weg 52, 35392 Giessen, Germany

Positive animal welfare (PAW) goes beyond minimising negative states (such as pain, fear, injury, and disease) of captive animals by emphasising the inclusion of positive experiences and emotional states. As PAW is an emerging concept, there is a need to identify indicators and assessment methods, including technologies, that can be used on commercial farms. Therefore, a scoping review was conducted as part of the COST Action LIFT (CA21124) to identify and characterize such technologies that have potential to be used on commercial farms to monitor (some) aspects of PAW in livestock.

This work was conducted by a team of about 30 researchers from different institutions worldwide and at different career stages (from PhD students to established professors). Initially, all group members suggested search keywords related to PAW indicators and then voted for the most relevant ones. Three literatures searches were conducted in July 2024 on Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed. These searches yielded 4652 papers, which abstracts were screened to include or exclude them in the final dataset. The paper selection was based on if the paper was about farm animals, used a technology and measured one of the keywords. Finally, the group members extracted data from the 568 selected papers.

Cattle (67%) was the most represented species, and body posture/movement (25.89%) and rumination (24.1%) were the most common measured indicators. Technologies identified were mostly wearable activity monitors(54.6%). The validation of the technology relied mainly on internal procedures (35.6%) and the gold standard used to compare outputs were human observations (52%). Around half of the identified technologies wereconsidered applicable under commercial farm conditions by the assessors, and potential negative effects for the animals were listed for only 28.5% of the papers. Potential negative effects for the animals were largely (66% of mentions) attributed to wearable activity monitors, which were deemed to cause potential discomfort (70% of mentions) and skin abrasion (21% of mentions).

This work shows the potential of technology to assess PAW indicators on commercial farms. However, the indicators used are not officially validated as PAW indicators, and thus our results have to be considered as indicative. Furthermore, wider application across livestock species and stronger external validation is required to support robust on-farm use and provide reliable outputs.

From Knowledge to Impact: Applying Farm Animal Cognition Research

Christian Nawroth
Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Dummerstorf, Germany

Fundamental research on farm animal cognition has revealed sophisticated cognitive abilities in animals that are often underestimated. To translate these insights into meaningful improvements in animal welfare, we must overcome a set of challenges and better reflect on how this knowledge is generated and communicated. This interactive lecture therefore addresses three key issues that can hamper the application of fundamental farm animal cognition research in welfare-relevant contexts: construct validity, external validity, and dissemination.

“Do I measure what we I intend to measure – and does it matter”?. In farm animals, particularly in a welfare context, should the focus lie on behavioural outcomes or on the underlying cognitive mechanisms when observing complex problem-solving behaviour?

“How representative are our samples, and where are they drawn from?” Sampling limitations may introduce biases that constrain the inferences we can make about farm animal cognition more broadly.

“Does knowledge about farm animal cognitive traits ultimately change human behaviour?” Although research in this field often attracts public attention, its impact on human beliefs and (consumer) behaviour remains uncertain. Do behaviours change after beliefs are updated, and how can findings be communicated more effectively to foster such change?

Addressing these interconnected challenges is essential if the field is to strengthen its conclusions and realise its broader impact.

Preeliminary Programme​ ​Regional ISAE East-West Central conference 2026