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Consensus networking on alternative methods within Europe

Periodic Report Summary - CONAM (Consensus networking on alternative methods within Europe)

This EU-funded project was established to maximise results and minimise conflicts within the 3Rs-strategy and at the same time striving for consensus between all stakeholders and member states involved.

The structure in which alternatives to animal research are being developed is known as the three Rs. The three Rs stand for reduction of the number of animal experiments, refinement of the way in which animals are used in experiments and the experiments are applied to the animals, and replacement of animals by other means of getting the required information.

As part of the project a number of actions were undertaken including:
- networking and super-national dissemination of information and 3R-results with focus on non-EU Candidate Countries. This was done through meetings and workshops preferably in the non-EU countries and the creation of a newsletter on the website. Links with other Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) projects, covering the area of 3R-alternatives, were made whenever information was made available by the European Commission.
- Enabling further education in this area, across Europe and in particular in the non- EU Candidate Countries (teaching initiatives).

Also achieved by the project was the implementation of a management tool (Gantt chart), an expansion of the ecopa website and the creation of a newsletter. By 2006 the ethics working group organised the second international workshop in Brussels with the topic 'human tissues as alternatives for animal experiments' and conducted a survey by means of internet and phone to update the information about the progress of the three R's.