The Workshop
This collaborative workshop helps participants understand how the hierarchy between humans and other species came about, and what its practical consequences are: intensive farming, animal experimentation and habitat destruction. Using cards, participants explore non-human species cognition and sentience, the main schools of thought on the moral status of animals, and the links between speciesism, climate issues and public health concerns.
Why It Matters
The way societies treat non-human species raises ethical questions that are increasingly present in public debate, reflecting scientific advances on animal sentience. The workshop lets participants address these questions rigorously and without dogmatism, giving everyone the tools to form an informed opinion. This systems view matters to businesses, government departments, educational institutions, local authorities, and associations.
Good to Know
The workshop runs for around 3 hours of play. It was created by a multidisciplinary scientific committee set up in 2021 to raise awareness of animal welfare. The content draws on moral philosophy (Peter Singer, Jeremy Bentham) and on scientific evidence from ethology and veterinary science. It imposes no conclusions and asks for no change in behaviour: it gives participants tools for reflection while respecting the different viewpoints they express.
What to Expect
Working in groups of 4 to 16, participants link the cards through cause and effect to reconstruct the mechanisms of speciesism, then move to a creative phase where they design their own fresco. The facilitator closes with an open debrief on the approaches and courses of action open to each participant, individually and collectively.