4 meetings including employee appraisals and visit from Norwegian parliament

Today I have attended 3 employee appraisals (total to date: 59) and chaired a visit to the department by three members of parliament accompanied by four advisors - altogether the meeting, which addressed child welfare, was attended by some 21 people.

Minding Animals Norway mentioned in Norwegian parliament debate on fur farming

On December 8th, Minding Animals Norway was mentioned in a debate in the Norwegian parliament, by our previous board member Une Aina Bastholm (Green Party of Norway). The debate concerned animal welfare/the living conditions of fur animals. Bastholm pointed out that Minding Animals Norway, "an academic network", is among the organizations and institutions opposing fur farming. Bastholm´s parliament speech is available here (in Norwegian).

Green Party press release on poultry welfare featuring Minding Animals

Minding Animals Norway was featured in a press release from Norway's Green Party released April 3rd and entitled "Vil ha kylling på Stortinget" [Want(s) chicken in Parliament]. The occasion for the press release was the seminar on animal welfare in the poultry industry co-arranged by Minding Animals Norway and the Green Party on April 7th. The seminar program was attached to the press release, where the Green Party states that they want animal welfare for chickens to be on the political agenda, and want the Norwegian parliament to discuss the poultry industry's future.

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Parliament seminar on poultry welfare organised; introductory talk given

Minding Animals parliament seminar reported on in poultry industry magazine

Report from poultry welfare seminar in MAI bulletin #22

Parliament seminar on poultry welfare organised; introductory talk given

On Monday April 7th Minding Animals Norway and Norway's Green Party co-arranged a seminar on animal welfare in the poultry industry in Norway's parliament. The programme included presentations by representatives of Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Ole Fjetland, Mattilsynet), The Council for Animal Ethics (Solveig Marie Stubsjøen, Rådet for dyreetikk), Norwegian Veterinary Institute (Cecilie Mejdell, Veterinærinstituttet) and the poultry industry itself, Norwegian poultry association (Jan Arne Broen, Norsk fjørfelag). Also, a farmer, Halvor Olsen (running Holte gård) presented his experiences after investing in animal welfare.

I was responsible for organising the seminar along with Une Aina Bastholm, and also gave a 10 minute introductory talk, entitled "Dyrevelferd i kyllingnæringen - innledning" [Animal welfare in the poultry industry - introduction]. Some 30 people representing 12 NGOs and industry bodies attended.

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Report from poultry welfare seminar in MAI bulletin #22

Minding Animals parliament seminar reported on in poultry industry magazine

Report from poultry welfare seminar in MAI bulletin #22

In the last issue of the Bulletin of Minding Animals International there is a 1-page report from the April 7th Minding Animals Norway/Norway's Green Party seminar on animal welfare in the poultry industry arranged in the Norwegian parliament, written by Une Aina Bastholm and myself and entitled "Report from seminar on animal welfare in poultry production in Norway's parliament".

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Minding Animals parliament seminar reported on in poultry industry magazine

Minding Animals parliament seminar reported on in poultry industry magazine

The seminar on poultry welfare which Minding Animals Norway co-organised with Norway's Green Party in the Norwegian Parliament April 7th is reported on in an article in the magazine Fjørfe (no. 4/ 2014). The article, "Kylling på Stortinget" [Chicken(s) in Parliament], is written by Pål Grønbeck, the general manager of Norsk Fjørfelag [Norwegian poultry association], which publishes the magazine. 

Norwegian parliament and MUST on the art exhibition Who owns history?; end date

The human-animal relations art exhibition "Utenfor sirkelen" [Outside the circle] by Jørund Aase Falkenberg, where I contribute with a text, is part of the larger exhibition "Hvem eier historien? Kunst, makt og demokrati" [Who owns history? Art, power and democracy] involving altogether 8 artists. This exhibition opens March 6th and will be on display until June 15th. The eight individual exhibitions included will be on display at various locations, namely MUST - Museum Stavanger and further Stavanger maritime museum, Breidablikk and Stavanger kunstmuseum. See the exhibition's modest page at MUST - Museum Stavanger, and the webpage of the Norwegian parliament (the exhibition is part of the official program for the 200 year anniversary of Norway's constitution).

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Art exhibition "Outside the circle" to open March 6th

Text to art exhibition "Outside the circle" finished

Text to art exhibition "Outside the circle" revised and finalized

Letter to the editor addressed to two conservative MPs: "In the oil mist"

On December 12th last year I had a letter to the editor published in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, Norway's biggest daily newspaper, titled "I oljetåken" [in the oil mist]. The letter to the editor was written in response to a letter to the editor published December 10th, written by two conservative MPs and entitled «Uten petroleumsforskning stopper Norge» [Without petroleum research, Norway stops]. Their letter was in turn written in reply to my December 2nd chronicle in the same newspaper, "Hva slags forskning er etisk forsvarlig?" [What kind(s) of research is ethically justifiable?].

See also:

Chronicle on Norwegian universities' petroleum research in Aftenposten

Member of parliament (Green Party) responds to chronicle on petroleum research

Two more members of parliament respond to chronicle on petroleum research