Creating an effective, inclusive and open Animal Welfare and Ethical review Body: Learning and legacy. (2024)

Abstract

This paper reports on our use of reflective practice to analyse and map the evolution of our legacy Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB) over 7 years. We identified 6 interconnected principles that support underlying behaviours and prsent them in the form of a roadmap for AWERBs to deliver all their tasks as laid out in the United Kingdom (UK) Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). These principles are: 1) Getting goin - getting buy-in and building processes and mechanisms that support your values and task delivery. 2) Identity and visibility - establishing your presence. 3) Speaking up and listening up - establishing dialogical reciprocity and symmetrical value systems. 4) Diversity and inclusion - identifying and removing systemic barriers to participation. 5) Recognising and rewarding - to value all participation and investments. 6) Self-assessment - to identify what is working well and where improvements can be made. These combined principles promote the overarching outcome of continued improvement. In mapping these principles alongside the AWERB tasks we used a series of case studies to provide further contextrualisation and insights and finished by outlining practical steps to help AWERB apply the 6 principles.