WelFarmers consortium meets in Helsinki to review project progress

Helsinki, Finland — The WelFarmers consortium gathered in Helsinki for a two-day meeting to review the progress of the project, discuss key milestones, and continue advancing the initiative aimed at improving pig welfare across Europe.

WelFarmers is a Horizon Europe-funded project that brings together farmers, advisors, veterinarians, researchers and industry stakeholders from eight European countries. The project focuses on identifying, evaluating and sharing practical Good Practices that can improve pig welfare on farms across the EU.

The meeting, hosted at the University of Helsinki, brought together project partners from the eight participating countries. During the first day, the consortium reviewed the current status of the project, discussed important milestones, and analyzed the Good Practices selected in Round 2. The agenda also included expert presentations from specialists in the pig sector, who shared insights and perspectives related to the project’s themes: Jarkko Niemi (research professor, Luke), Ina Toppari (executive manager, ETT), Martti Hassila (field manager, Snellman), Taneli Tirkkonen (quality manager, Atria).

After a full day of discussions, participants enjoyed a traditional Finnish experience in Nuuksio National Park, including a sauna and dinner in a traditional kota, kindly sponsored by Atria.

The second day began with a morning session dedicated to further discussions on the project’s activities and future steps. The consortium also held a summary session reviewing the key points and outcomes from the two days of meetings, consolidating the main conclusions and next actions for the project.

Following lunch, kindly sponsored by HKFoods, participants joined a virtual visit to the farm Maatila Onnela Oy, where they learned more about practical farming approaches and on-farm pig welfare solutions. The group then travelled to Tli-Simolan Tila (HKFoods), a showroom farm, where the consortium meeting concluded with a visit to the facilities.

The two-day meeting provided an opportunity for partners to exchange knowledge, review project progress and align on the next steps of the WelFarmers project.