Past Conferences

2023

The second edition of the Animal Advocacy Conference (first in-person edition) took place June 22-24, 2023, at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

It was organized by Kristof Dhont (Conference Chair), Maria Ioannidou, Stefan Leach, Jared Piazza, and Chris Hopwood.

The schedule of the 2023 edition can be found here: Schedule Animal Advocacy Conference 2023

2021

The first edition of the Animal Advocacy Conference took place virtually June 30 – July 2, 2021, organized by Kristof Dhont, Victoria Krings, Alina Salmen, and Maria Ioannidou, with the help from members of SHARKLab at the University of Kent.

The schedule of the 2021 edition can be found here: Schedule Animal Advocacy Conference 2021.

You can watch the talks of the keynote speakers and the panel discussion below.

Keynote speakers

Keynote Speaker 1: Professor Catherine Amiot

Toward an Understanding of Our Psychological Connection with Other Animals

Keynote Speaker 2: Tobias Leenaert

Making Compassion Easier: A Pragmatic Approach to Help Farmed Animals

Keynote Speaker 3: Professor Gordon Hodson

Animals and Animus: Our Relations with Animals Speak to the Essence of Human Nature

Panel Discussion

Effective Animal Advocacy: The Reducetarian vs Abolitionist Approach to Animal Liberation

In this panel discussion, four prominent animal advocates with years of experience in the animal rights movement, yet with diverse backgrounds, discussed the effectiveness of reducetarian and abolitionist approaches to vegan and animal advocacy. What are the key differences and similarities in theory and practice? The panel also explored what it means to be “effective” and how much space there is for pragmatism and idealism in both approaches.

Moderators: Kristof Dhont and Maria Ioannidou

Panel members:

  • Corey Wrenn (University of Kent, Vegan Feminist Network)
  • Tobias Leenaert (ProVeg International)
  • Nella Giatrakou (The Animal Rights Show)
  • Jamie Harris (Sentience Institute)