Mark your calendar and join the discussion on safeguarding animal health and welfare in times of crisis!
The Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare will organize a seminar on 11 November 2026 in collaboration with the Nordic and Baltic animal welfare centers. The seminar will focus on the highly topical issue of crisis management in relation to animal welfare. The seminar is free and open for everyone. Register here by 21st October.
The programme will include expert presentations, discussions, and a panel on safeguarding animal health and welfare and preparedness for crisis situations. The seminar will be held in English.
Seminar information
Date:
11th November 2026
Location:
Pieni juhlasali (F4050), University of Helsinki, Fabianinkatu 33, Helsinki, Finland
Organizers:
Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare and NordCAW
Registration open until 21st October:
https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/NordCAW_Helsinki_seminar_1881
Contact info:
Satu Raussi, satu.raussi (at) luke.fi, tel. +358 50 4156 570
Tiina Kauppinen, tiina.kauppinen (at) luke.fi, tel. +358 44 3001 295
Follow the seminar by webcast:
(find the link here later)
Share your seminar posts using #animalsincrisis
Seminar program
- 9.00-9.30 Coffee and registration
- 9.30-9.40 Welcoming words, the Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare
- 9.40-10.10 Animal health and welfare in various crises, Lotta Berg, Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare
- 10.10-10.40 Estonian communication strategy for animal health and welfare crises, case ASF Hanna Turetski-Toomik, Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Board
- 10.40-10.55 Centre for Veterinary Disaster Medicine in Sweden, Lena Tuominen, Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare
- 10.55-11.15 Risk communication in animal health and welfare – what is lacking? Satu Raussi, Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare
- 11.15-11.45 Non-Human Animal as a Refugee, Arita Holmberg, Swedish Defence University, Department of Political Science
- 11.45-13.00 Lunch
- 13.00-13.15 The Covid-19 pandemic and mink welfare, Jens Malmkvist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences & Aarhus University, Denmark
- 13.15-13.45 Preparing for animal health and welfare risks in salmon production, Ingunn Sommerset, Norwegian Veterinary Institute
- 13.45-14.15 Preparing for animal welfare risks caused by climate change, Vytautas Ribikauskas, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences
- 14.15-14.45 Coffee break
- 14.45-15.15 Long lasting natural disasters and animal welfare, preparations, management and learnings, Thóra Jónasdóttir, The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority
- 15.15-16.15 Panel discussion on securing animal welfare in natural disasters, moderated by Tiina Kauppinen, Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare
- 16.15-16.30 Closing words, Satu Raussi, Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare
Speakers
Charlotte ’Lotta’ Berg is a veterinarian and Professor in Animal Environment and Health at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), based in Skara. As part of her employment, she is the director of SLU-SCAW, the Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare. Her expertise covers animal welfare, preventive veterinary medicine, animal welfare policy, One Health-One Welfare and several other aspects of farm animal housing and management. Another speciality is animal welfare at the time of slaughter or on-farm killing, where she represents the national contact point for the relevant EU regulation. Lotta is also involved in research on wildlife and on farmed fish, and in the development of scientific knowledge on disaster medicine and preparedness, both nationally and together with colleagues within the WOAH Collaborating Centre and beyond.
Hanna Turetski-Toomik is the 2025 Communications Manager of the Year in Estonia in the public and third sector category. She has worked for over 20 years as a communications manager in various Estonian government agencies. During this time, she has built and managed crisis communication, as well as day-to-day internal and external communication. A significant part of her work has focused on raising awareness among businesses and consumers, including the implementation of nationwide information and marketing campaigns. These have covered topics such as consumer rights, animal health and welfare, and food safety.
Lena Tuominen is a veterinarian and Qualified Officer at the Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare (SCAW), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden. Her expertise spans animal welfare, welfare assessment, One Health, emergency management, and risk reduction. She is a member of the coordination team of the European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare for Ruminants and Equines. SCAW is a WOAH Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare and actively contributes to the World Organisation for Animal Health’s international activities and initiatives. Since 2025, Lena has been involved in a joint SCAW–Swedish Veterinary Agency pilot project exploring the establishment of a permanent Centre for Veterinary Disaster Medicine in Sweden.
Satu Raussi is Leading Specialist of the Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare at Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Her expertise covers animal welfare, animal production systems, and animal welfare policy, combining scientific expertise, policy support, stakeholder cooperation, and public communication to improve animal welfare nationally and internationally. The Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare promotes evidence-based improvements in animal welfare and helps translate scientific knowledge into policy, professional practice, and public understanding.
Arita Holmberg is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Department for Political Science at the Swedish Defence University. She has published broadly within the field of security and defence transformation, military organizations and non-traditional security actors. Her current research concerns the geopolitics of climate change, crisis management during health crises and non-human animals and security. Some of her recent articles appear in Defence Studies, Geopolitics and Critical Studies on Security among other journals. Currently she is the Director of Campus total defence, an initiative that brings together Swedish universities with the goal of sharing knowledge relevant to the total defence.
Jens Malmkvist is Professor of Applied Ethology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), leading research and education on behaviour in domestic animals. He earned his PhD in Ethology in 2001 and spent over two decades at Aarhus University, Denmark, studying behaviour, stress and welfare in mink, pigs, and horses. In April 2024, Jens joined SLU as Professor, and since January 2026, he has served as Director of the European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (EURCAW) – Ruminants & Equines, supporting competent authorities and policy workers in EU Member States in the implementation of animal welfare regulations.
Ingunn Sommerset is Director of the Aquatic Animal Health Department at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute. Her expertise covers infectious diseases and animal welfare problems in aquaculture of salmonid species, in particular farmed Atlantic salmon. Before joining the Veterinary Institute, she worked for 14 years in MSD animal health as technical director and project leader for fish vaccines. Ingunn has a PhD from the University of Bergen (2004) on nodavirus in farmed Atlantic halibut.
Vytautas Ribikauskas is Associate Professor at the Veterinary Academy of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) and head of the LSMU Veterinary Faculty Animal Welfare Centre. He is a veterinarian and doctor of biomedical sciences with more than 25 years of experience in animal welfare research, teaching, expert assessment, and scientific consultancy. His expertise covers animal welfare assessment, animal behaviour, housing and management systems, and welfare issues in both farmed and wild animals. He is chairman of the board of the LSMU Wildlife Rescue Centre and a member and secretary of the LSMU Research Ethics Committee for Veterinary, Animal Science and Other Agricultural Sciences. Since 2017, he has served as a scientific expert on the European Commission’s EU Animal Welfare Platform. His professional activities combine scientific research and education with expert input to animal welfare policy and practical implementation in Lithuania and at the European level.
Thora Jonasdottir
Tiina Kauppinen is Senior Specialist of the Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare at Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Her expertise covers animal welfare, science communication, and welfare policy, combining research expertise with practical policy support, stakeholder collaboration, public communication, training, and legislative analysis. The Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare promotes evidence-based improvements in animal welfare and helps translate scientific knowledge into policy, professional practice, and public understanding.