EAAP Council Meeting in Rome Focused on the Future of Animal Production and Science
23.03.2026
On March 19–20, 2026, a joint meeting of the Council and the Scientific Committee of the EAAP (European Federation of Animal Science) was held in Rome (www.eaap.org). EAAP is the largest global organization bringing together the scientific and professional community in the field of animal sciences.
Slovakia is represented in EAAP by the Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (https://fapz.uniag.sk/sk/eaap/). Since 2025, Prof. Radovan Kasarda has been a member of the EAAP Council, representing Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Croatia. He succeeded Prof. Klemen Potočnik from Slovenia on a rotational basis and also serves as Chair of the Working Group for Central and Eastern Europe.
The meeting agenda focused on key EAAP activities, including the evaluation of the Annual Meeting in Innsbruck, which was assessed as highly successful. In terms of attendance and number of scientific contributions, it ranked among the top three meetings in recent years. Contributions from the fields of genetics and genomics, nutrition, animal welfare, and animal health traditionally dominated.
The meeting also included updates on the preparation of the upcoming Annual Meeting in Hamburg, where more than 1,500 scientific contributions have already been registered, along with a rich scientific and accompanying program.
The Council further addressed the approval of financial results and the budget for 2026, as well as issues related to membership, publications, and educational activities. Discussions also focused on new initiatives, including webinars, scholarship programs, and the use of artificial intelligence within EAAP activities.
An important part of the agenda was the nomination of candidates for EAAP awards (Distinguished Service Award and Leroy Award), as well as information on the establishment of a working group on ethics, which will address issues of scientific integrity and sustainability in animal production.
As an outcome of the Scientific Committee meeting, a new scientific commission on poultry production has been established starting in 2025, and the creation of a scientific commission on aquaculture is planned for 2026, reflecting the growing interest of the scientific community in these areas.
The meeting confirmed the importance of international cooperation and knowledge exchange for the further development of animal sciences in Europe, as well as the increasing role of digitalization and innovation in this sector.
