Events
Upcoming
Common Ground on Animal Ethics - When Anthropology Meets Philosophy
Public event by the Department of Anthropology, co-sponsored by The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience
Thursday 30 April and Friday 1 May 2026
LSE campus
This workshop builds on the growing strengths in animal ethics research at LSE—particularly within the Philosophy Department’s Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience and the Anthropology Department’s ongoing work on ethics and human-animal relations. Supported by Professor Catherine Allerton, it seeks to bring established philosophers and anthropologists into conversation with early career scholars, creating a platform for shared inquiry, debate, and future collaboration.
The workshop will feature keynote dialogues and paper presentations. The aim is to foster an ongoing network of collaborators and to explore the possibility of a special issue or collected volume in an interdisciplinary animal studies journal.
Learn more and registerThis event is hosted by the Department of Anthropology, co-sponsored by The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience.
LSE Festival 2026: How to save the planet
LSE's public research festival - free and open to all
LSE campus
15 June - 20 June 2026
Members of the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience are contributing to events highlighted below.
How to save the planet | LSE Festival exhibition; in-person public event. This exhibition will feature a poster from Veterinary Policy Research Fellow, Dr Steven McCulloch, on the theme 'Holding those with power to account'.
The Green Shoots of the New Economy; in-person and online public event. Advisory Board member, Dr Frederic Basso will contribute to a panel discussion on whether SME and large private firms and financial actors can develop solutions not just in technology, but by more radically rethinking their social form and purpose. Is it actually possible for firms and finance to buck the trend of destructive economic activity, and if so, how? What challenges do these emergent actors face in scaling up those activities, and what do those challenges teach us about the next steps we need to take to develop a less destructive, altogether more regenerative form of economic activity and thought?
Food futures; in-person and online public event. Our Human Behaviours and Attitudes Research Officer, Dr Feiyang Wang, will contribute to a panel discussion on our current food system, a leading cause of biodiversity loss, global warming and public health risks. Weaving together diverse but complementary perspectives and areas of focus around the common themes of sustainability, health, and wellbeing, this panel discussion will address the ethical, logistical, and technical challenges of transitioning to a more planet-friendly food system.
Past events and engagements
2025-26
Dr Steven McCulloch featured as a keynote speaker during the Caring Vets Conference 2026. His talk explored veterinary professional codes of conduct, focusing on commitments to animal welfare and the public interest. He highlighted that institutional policy positions often align closely with existing production systems, and emphasised the importance of ensuring that values, policy, and practice are aligned.
Animal economics
LSE Public event - free and open to all
Tuesday 24 March 2026 6.30pm - 8pm
In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)
Humans care about animals, and many would argue that animals are morally relevant. Many of our decisions profoundly affect the welfare of animals and yet welfare economics has not, up to this point, considered animals in its frameworks, theories and cost-benefit calculations. This is poised to change with the publication of Animal Economics by Nicolas Treich, who is a pioneer in bringing animals into economics.
Professor Treich will present the main arguments of the book, which explores the complexity of human attitudes toward animals and combines this with economic theory to show how we can understand animal welfare as an externality and thereby incorporate animals into decisions. After the book presentation, a panel will debate and further explore the themes of the book.
We co-hosted this event alongside the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Global School of Sustainability.
The 4th International Online Conference on Animals (IOCAN) 2026 included a keynote session from our Veterinary Policy Research Fellow, Dr Steven McCulloch, on the topic "Captured or Independent? Veterinary Institutions, Animal Welfare Science, and the Politics of Farmed Animal Welfare and Meat Reduction".
The Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) 2026 included a panel discussion featuring our Animals and AI Research Officer, Dr Natasha Boyland, on the topic "Sentient Beings: What science and AI reveal about farmed animals". The panel explore how rapidly developing AI technologies could influence our understanding of animal sentience and shape future policy and practice - bringing opportunity and risks.
Saving Britain's Wildlife
LSE Public event - free and open to all
Tuesday 11 November 2025 6.30pm - 8pm
In-person and online public event (Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE)
Britain's wildlife has been under pressure for centuries. Many of the large mammals that once inhabited these islands were driven to extinction long ago. In the twenty-first century, insect populations have collapsed by around three quarters. Is there any way back?
Join us to hear stories from the frontline of the fight to restore wild Britain. We'll discuss the ethics of conservation in the real world. When should we intervene and when should we leave "wild nature" alone? When conflicts between economic and environmental interests emerge, how should they be handled? How can scientists involve local communities in conservation to avoid tensions and build coalitions? Does a focus on large animals lead to undervaluing tiny animals, like insects, or can we help both at once? And since wild nature involves a lot of suffering, do we have to choose between prioritizing animal welfare and prioritizing biodiversity? These questions will be brought to life with vivid examples.
This event was Chaired by our Centre Director, Professor Jonathan Birch, hosted by the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), Global School of Sustainability and Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.
The London Vet Show 2025 hosted a panel discussion including our Centre Director, Professor Jonathan Birch, on the topic "AI on farms - is it good for vets and animal welfare?". The panel discuss emerging technologies, their use in farming and what the future could look like - covering opportunities and risks.
How AI is helping - and harming - animals
LSE Public event - free and open to all
Tuesday 30 September 2025 6.30pm - 8pm
In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)
Learn more about the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, a new LSE initiative committed to making sure technological change works for - rather than against - the interests of other species.
Would you trust a device that claimed to translate your dog or cat's emotions into English? Would you be OK with completely automated, human-free farming? What if you had a driverless car that was indifferent to hitting birds and foxes?
AI is transforming the lives of animals at speed, but these huge impacts are going unnoticed and unregulated. Some of the changes could transform our relationships with our fellow creatures for the better, whereas others could make existing animal welfare problems much worse and even more deeply entrenched. How can we curb the risks and take the opportunities?