Culture of Care Working Group

About Culture of Care

Culture of care is an important principle that indicates a commitment to improve animal welfare, scientific quality, care of the staff and transparency for the stakeholders.

The Swiss 3RCC's Culture of Care working group aims to promote and facilitate the culture of care at institutions in Switzerland. We also host the larger Swiss Culture of Care Group in their regular meetings.

An international culture of care network was established to share examples of activities that improve animal welfare. The network aims to promote a mind-set and behaviour that continuously and proactively works to promote laboratory animal welfare and the 3Rs; to go beyond a culture of compliance, and to include a culture of challenge, i.e., go beyond the accepted. You can find more information on the International Culture of Care Network here.

The Swiss Culture of Care Charter

The Charter is meant to give practical suggestions on steps and actions to implement the CoC actively in the daily research activities. It is an engagement to bind to a philosophy, which in the present case is rooted in the 3Rs principle. Joining the CoC Charter is an official recognition that a given Institution will do its best to apply 3Rs principles beyond the legal requirements. 

The degree with which the Institutions will apply the concepts of the Charter depends on how much resources are allocated to this endeavor and is voluntary.  

If each of the key players – animal caretakers, veterinarians, facility managers, scientists, animal welfare officers, leaders - implement one of these actions daily, research institutions would positively impact the welfare of the animals, their research but also the satisfaction of their employees and the trust of the public. 

Culture of Care Award

The Culture of Care (CoC) Award recognizes an individual or a group of people for their accomplishment to promote and implement a good Culture of Care within a research institution that uses animals for research.

The award for contribution to the CoC in 2022 was presented live at the SGV meeting to Dr. Julie Parchet-Piccand from EPFL for her project on improving the knowledge of experimental licenses and research projects for animal caretakers.

For all relevant information on eligibility and how to apply click here.