Update on TechCare: innovative technologies to improve small ruminant welfare management
Résumé
This paper presents the over-arching latest advances of the multi-actor approach project, TechCare, which aims at developing appropriate early warning systems and business models using innovative technologies to improve welfare
management in EU small ruminant production systems. Small ruminants play a key socio-economic role in Europe, especially in harsh environments where innovative technology is not yet commonly adopted. Small ruminants are often
managed as a flock/herd, allowing only average welfare states to be considered. Innovative technologies are a unique opportunity to improve small ruminant welfare management at the individual or flock/herd level, along the value
chain. To this aim, in each participant country, stakeholders will be involved to prioritize the most relevant welfare issues and corresponding indicators. In a second step, they will contribute to assess an array of country and production
system-tailored innovative technologies and early warning systems with potential for managing the prioritized welfare issues. These will then be tested on pilot farms in different conditions and validated at large-scale. The best performing
technologies and systems which successfully pass all these steps will be evaluated for their viability in terms of business models. Whilst other consortium authors will present details of specific project activities (namely – stakeholders’
engagement, welfare challenges identification and innovative technologies inventory), this paper focus on presenting preliminary activities and goals of the project to ensure awareness to a wide range of small ruminant stakeholders.