The Swedish 3Rs at the World Congress in Canada

The Swedish 3Rs Center attended the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Niagara Falls, Canada. We participated with six posters and one session at a symposium during the conference week.

The Swedish 3Rs program

Monday, August 28, Posters:

C17 #253: Swedish acclimatization guidelines for rats and mice

C18 #252: A standardized score sheet template for assessing rodent health

Tuesday, August 29, Posters:

D1 #510: Today’s students are tomorrow’s researchers

E24 #334: A Swedish strategy to replace animal experimentation

E25 #535: The Swedish 3Rs Center – five years of focus on the 3Rs

E36 #297: Target group specific efforts to facilitate replacement of animal experimentation

Wednesday, August 30, Symposium:

Session S440, 11:00 – 12:30, Ballroom B

Caring for All: Behavioural Management to Improve Animal and Worker Welfare, #330 Aggression in group-housed male mice: a dual approach to increased understanding. Speaker is Elin Törnqvist from the Swedish National Committee for the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes.

The Swedish attendees' reflections after the congress

Representatives from the Swedish 3Rs Center and the Swedish National Committee attended the congress to share their work, to network, to learn more and to get further inspiration. The World Congress offered an extensive scientific programme divided into six parallel themes, of which Regulatory acceptance, Global Harmonization and Next-gen education were in focus.

The general take home message was that we have to stop focusing on obstacles and move forward step by step in order to change the global animal testing landscape. Overall, the World Congress was a huge success and the participants from Sweden left Niagara Falls with renewed hope and inspiration to advance the 3Rs.