From the organizers:
Welcome to 50e AFSTAL Symposium
Dear colleagues, dear members,
As every year, the Laboratory Animal Sciences brings us together around scientific, regulatory, ethical and technical themes. For the 50the edition, we have chosen to deepen an essential and daily concern in our establishments: the culture of care.
On behalf of AFSTAL, I am therefore pleased to invite you to the 50e Colloquium of our Association which will be held from 10 to 12 June 2026 in Reims and will be held at:
"Let's cultivate care, let's reap excellence".
The culture of care is a cross-cutting and essential approach, which concerns all those involved in the use of animals for scientific purposes. Well beyond strict compliance with regulations and best practices, it embodies a collective and proactive approach, focused on the continuous improvement of animal welfare, scientific quality, staff support and transparency towards all stakeholders, including the general public.
Adopting a culture of care means cultivating a shared state of mind, based on good treatment and benevolence, for animals and humans alike. It means recognising that scientific excellence cannot be achieved without ethical commitment, empathy and collaboration between the various actors: management of establishments, animal staff, scientists, veterinarians.
Each establishment is invited to build its own culture of care, adapted to its specificities, its resources and its missions. There is no single model, but a common dynamic, nourished by concrete examples, feedback, local initiatives, sometimes inspiring, sometimes confronted with obstacles.
The care culture also encompasses fundamental pillars such as training, communication and the effective implementation of the 3Rs principle. It is a lever for more robust, reproducible and animal-friendly research that makes it possible.
On the occasion of this 50the Colloquium, we invite you to explore together this living and evolving culture. Scientists, animal care staff, veterinarians, members of SBEA and ethics committees, this time of exchange will be an opportunity to share our experiences, positive or not, in the concrete implementation of this approach. We hope that these exchanges will nourish our reflections, enrich our professional practices and contribute to building, together, the foundations of a stronger, more shared and more embodied culture of care.
As every year, the program will include free communications, a time dedicated to posters, as well as supplier workshops.
Europe's largest trade exhibition in the field will also be accessible throughout the event, offering you the opportunity to discover the latest innovations, exchange with partners in the sector and expand your professional network.
AFSTAL is expecting many of you for this 50the a symposium which, once again, will be organized to make these days as friendly as they are rich in content.
See you soon in Reims!
For the Organizing
Committee Véronique CORCELLE, President of AFSTAL