WEBVTT 00:00:00.599 --> 00:00:03.500 Hi everyone, this is Suedda and Gülbeke from 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:06.799 Animatrix and we would like to start by saying 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.300 that it's such a great pleasure to be here again. 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:11.960 For those of you who may be new to our work, 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:14.080 Animatrix is a research and capacity building 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:17.579 organization. With Animatrix we are primarily 00:00:17.579 --> 00:00:20.339 focusing on supporting animal advocates in the 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:24.320 majority world, or often referred to as the Global 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.870 South. And our goal is to generate reliable and 00:00:27.870 --> 00:00:30.649 context -specific data. But not only that, we 00:00:30.649 --> 00:00:33.750 also want to help translate the evidence into 00:00:33.750 --> 00:00:37.590 practical strategies that advocacy organizations 00:00:37.590 --> 00:00:42.289 can use for impact. And today we'll be briefly 00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:45.009 reintroducing our work and then we will dive 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:48.450 into the insights from our brand new study which 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:52.789 is focusing on five countries in the Gulf and 00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:56.070 Southeast Asia, namely United Arab Emirates, 00:00:56.390 --> 00:00:59.710 Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. So in 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:03.030 this project we explored how people in each country 00:01:03.030 --> 00:01:06.769 relate to industrial animal agriculture and what 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:10.109 this means for animal welfare and food system 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:16.030 change and the respective opportunities in each 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:19.599 country. Please connect with us. Our email and 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:22.540 social links are in the episode notes. And you 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:25.799 can also find new episodes every Wednesday on 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:27.959 this podcast. And please don't forget to share 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:31.379 this episode with your community. All right. 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:34.099 Before we jump into talking about our organization 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:36.939 and study, let's quickly share a bit about who 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:40.319 we are. So I'm Gidbike, co -founder of Animetrix, 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:43.579 along with Sveta. My background is in economics. 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.480 So basically, I completed my PhD researching 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.439 how behaviors spread between people, like in 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:54.159 other words, how social influence works, as well 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:57.959 as the economics of crime. So alongside that, 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:03.040 I work part -time as software project assessor, 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.760 and I also teach and speak about animal rights, 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:09.370 animal welfare, and environmental issues. Much 00:02:09.370 --> 00:02:11.669 of that has been in collaboration with Middle 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:15.389 East Vegan Society. So with them I have delivered 00:02:15.389 --> 00:02:18.909 more than 25 talks and workshops across countries 00:02:18.909 --> 00:02:23.409 like Egypt, Turkey, Rwanda, Uganda, Mozambique, 00:02:23.590 --> 00:02:28.389 Sri Lanka, Philippines and El Salvador. And I'm 00:02:28.389 --> 00:02:31.590 Sueda, the other co -founder of Animatrix. I'm 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:34.449 a behavioral and experimental economist. And 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:36.949 I'm also currently a post -doctoral researcher 00:02:36.949 --> 00:02:40.330 at Berlin Social Science Center. So my academic 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:44.789 work is focusing on discrimination and bias. 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:48.669 And I'm also looking at ways to encourage pro 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:52.009 -social behavior across the society, like charitable 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:56.659 giving or making more sustainable choices. And 00:02:56.659 --> 00:02:58.560 for this work, I've been gaining quite a lot 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.539 of experience designing and running large scale 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:04.539 surveys across different countries. And with 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:06.639 Animatrix, I'm trying to bring these perspectives 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.240 and this expertise into animal advocacy. Yeah, 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.259 so now let's talk about what we actually do in 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.300 Animatrix and why we think this work is needed 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:21.719 in the movement. So basically, our work is about 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.240 making animal advocacy more evidence -based. 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:28.580 with research that is rooted in specific social, 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.800 cultural and economic contexts where we want 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:35.860 to create a change. We generate that evidence 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:39.659 locally and then translate it into practical 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:42.580 strategies that organizations can actually use. 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:48.219 Yeah, there are actually a few observations that 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.780 really guided us when we were structuring our 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:56.300 work at Animatrix. One was that we saw that like 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:59.219 the research in farming animal advocacy majority 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:02.219 of it is coming from the global north and majority 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:04.599 of it is actually focusing on strategies in the 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:06.919 global north even though the majority of farmed 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:10.680 animals live in the global south. So this disconnect 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:13.400 felt really significant to us especially when 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.160 we consider the scale because billions of animals 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.060 are living in these regions. And we also know 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:22.839 that strategies don't automatically travel very 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.899 well. So what works in one country can be ineffective 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:29.639 or even create a backlash in another one. So 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.639 understanding local social norms, cultural context 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:36.699 and economic realities really matters. And a 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:39.459 key part of this for us is also engaging with 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:42.259 Muslim communities. So we know that Muslims represent 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:45.560 nearly a quarter of the world's population and 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.800 their dietary choices particularly around halal 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.199 conception, is really shaping global food systems 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:55.860 at a massive scale. And religious values are 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:58.459 known to influence perceptions of animal welfare 00:04:58.459 --> 00:05:01.959 and food ethics. However, in the global animal 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:04.259 advocacy conversation, Muslim communities are 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:08.220 often very, very underrepresented. And on top 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:10.319 of that, another thing that we've noticed is 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.680 that economics or field of study and also behavioral 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:16.579 science, it wasn't really deeply integrated into 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:19.819 the movement. And it's quite important because 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:23.199 advocacy is at its core about behavior change, 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:26.660 which actually requires an understanding of how 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:29.519 people make their decisions, how industries react 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.899 to different incentives, how systems shift and 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:36.079 so on. And as a field, economics really helps 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.420 us think clearly about these dynamics and really 00:05:39.420 --> 00:05:43.180 understand them. And one final observation that 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:45.759 we had was that even though, you know, there's 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:50.660 a lot of very strong research and evidence exists 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:54.420 out there, it doesn't often make it into practice 00:05:54.420 --> 00:05:57.480 because all these research articles and papers 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:01.420 are not super accessible to someone without a 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:05.339 research background and so on. So sometimes this 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.920 research is not really reaching the advocates 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:12.459 or maybe the research is great and it's reaching 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:14.980 the advocates but it's not necessarily answering 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:19.879 their most urgent questions. So as Animatrix 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.220 we wanted to respond to all these challenges 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:26.699 in a practical and in a hands -on way. So now 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:29.459 give it to Gubike who will explain how we actually 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:33.319 do this. Yeah, thanks for that. So what does 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:37.300 that look like in practice? So we focus on three 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:41.439 main areas. First one is research. We design 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.839 and conduct original studies using economics 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.139 and behavioral science to answer practical, moment 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:50.420 relevant questions. These are like how to shift 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:53.300 food choices, how to design more effective campaigns, 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:57.199 or how people think about animal welfare in different 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:01.860 contexts. So second, is implementation support. 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:05.100 So we don't just publish reports and move on. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:09.279 We translate findings into usable formats like 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:13.459 toolkits, short briefs, visuals, and we work 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:17.579 directly with advocates to help apply those insights 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:20.720 and practice. One thing that makes us different 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.579 is that we co -design projects with organizations. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.199 So the research starts from their needs, not 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.540 just from academic curiosity. And lastly and 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:35.180 thirdly is capacity building that we do. So basically 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:38.120 it looks like we train advocates in research 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.019 design, survey methods and impact evaluations 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:46.079 so that they can generate and use evidence themselves. 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:49.459 Since we started, we have supported more than 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:53.379 dozens of organizations from Uganda to Philippines 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:57.779 to Kenya and we delivered hundreds of hours of 00:07:57.779 --> 00:08:01.709 trainings. Across all of this, we focus especially 00:08:01.709 --> 00:08:03.850 on regions and communities that are critical 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:07.470 for animals, but still very, very under -presented 00:08:07.470 --> 00:08:11.410 in research. Like Sveta said, these are particularly 00:08:11.410 --> 00:08:14.129 parts of the majority world and Muslim communities. 00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:20.769 So yeah, that's about it about Anometrics. Now 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:24.850 let's get to our new project. So the starting 00:08:24.850 --> 00:08:28.649 point for this project was that It is common 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:31.149 knowledge that industrial animal agriculture 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:34.830 has super serious consequences for animals, obviously, 00:08:35.029 --> 00:08:37.009 but also for the environment, for the public 00:08:37.009 --> 00:08:40.809 health, and also for the workers involved in 00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:44.509 these production systems. And if one wants to 00:08:44.509 --> 00:08:48.029 create meaningful change, the first requirement 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:50.669 is to understand how people actually relate to 00:08:50.669 --> 00:08:53.070 these issues. You know, questions like what shapes 00:08:53.070 --> 00:08:56.250 their food choices? Is it about cost? Is it about 00:08:56.250 --> 00:08:58.389 tradition? Is it about religion? Is it about 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:02.629 societal norms? Whether or not people see animal 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:05.639 welfare important in the first place. Or would 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.379 they actually support policy changes? Or are 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:11.899 they open to trying alternative food products 00:09:11.899 --> 00:09:15.580 through animal -based foods? So in this project, 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:18.200 we wanted to answer these questions focusing 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.919 on five countries in the Gulf and West Asia. 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:25.559 So United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:30.080 and Saudi Arabia. where comparable and context 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.440 -specific data on public attitudes around these 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.919 issues has largely been missing. So what we did 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.000 was that we collaborated with the Great Middle 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.940 East Vegan Society and also Susan Ekinje, who 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:47.519 was a fantastic researcher, and we designed and 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.659 conducted a large -scale survey across these 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:53.960 five countries. The survey was actually inspired 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:58.379 by a previous international research on public 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:02.340 attitudes conducted by Mercy for Animals. We 00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:05.440 basically took the survey and also adopted it 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:09.460 to reflect the social and religious context in 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:11.299 the regions and countries that we're working 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:14.639 in. We basically looked at three main areas. 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:17.399 First, we wanted to understand the potential 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.679 pathways to change and how each country is standing 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.190 there. the dietary shift, the existing dietary 00:10:24.190 --> 00:10:28.730 patterns, the support for animal protection organizations, 00:10:29.210 --> 00:10:31.710 openness to alternatives such as cultivated meat, 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:36.649 and also support for stronger animal welfare 00:10:36.649 --> 00:10:40.950 laws. And second, we wanted to understand the 00:10:40.950 --> 00:10:45.269 barriers that are standing in front of these 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:49.029 potential changes, right? So these barriers included 00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:53.129 the attachment to meat, the religious and cultural 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:56.490 justifications for consuming animal -based products, 00:10:56.710 --> 00:11:00.470 and also social norms that might make changes 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:03.909 towards better life for animals more difficult. 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:08.389 And third, we wanted to look into potential facilitators 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:12.309 for change. So these include factors that could 00:11:12.309 --> 00:11:15.529 make change more likely, such as individuals' 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:19.600 recognition of animal sentience, or their understanding 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.879 of the links between animal agriculture and broader 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:27.259 harms of the industrial animal agriculture such 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:31.799 as climate change, public health or worker exploitation 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:36.080 or difficult conditions for the workers. So what 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:40.419 we did was we wanted to understand the relationships 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:43.360 between these potential pathways to change the 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:45.500 barriers, the facilitators. We wanted to understand 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:49.559 which ones are the most prominent ones. And we 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:52.919 also explored how these views differ across different 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:57.580 demographic groups. And finally, we want to understand 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:02.639 who people believe should be responsible for 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.360 the education of the public on animal welfare 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.759 and the need for legal protections for them. 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:12.500 And with this study, we believe that we are addressing 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:16.159 an important gap because while research on public 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.139 attitudes towards animal agriculture is growing 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:22.820 globally, We still know very, very little about 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:26.659 how people in South -West Asia, or as we know 00:12:26.659 --> 00:12:29.639 as the Middle East, think about these issues. 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:33.559 Like, what resonates with them, where there might 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:37.480 be openness to change, as Fedar said, and where 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:40.960 might create resistance, what might create resistance. 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.000 And that really matters because we are talking 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.220 about a region experiencing a rapid population 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:50.850 growth. and a very high demand for and rising 00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:54.610 demand for animal -based products. And at the 00:12:54.610 --> 00:12:57.330 same time, both are deeply connected to culture, 00:12:57.610 --> 00:13:01.809 religion, hospitality and identity. So, strategies 00:13:01.809 --> 00:13:04.429 developed in other parts of the world can't simply 00:13:04.429 --> 00:13:08.330 be copied and pasted here. They need to be thoughtfully 00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:12.970 adapted. And without locally grounded data, advocates 00:13:12.970 --> 00:13:15.669 and policymakers are also working with limited 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:19.299 guidance. What this study offers is a clear picture, 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.980 like an evidence -based, rooted in this specific 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:26.360 context, that can help shape more thoughtful, 00:13:26.659 --> 00:13:29.460 culturally grounded, and finally more effective. 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:35.419 All right, so the more interesting part, the 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.899 key findings. What did we find? So, first of 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:43.120 all, across the five countries, we observed some 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:48.350 clear and similar patterns. So first of all, 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:52.009 we found that plant -based eating is actually 00:13:52.009 --> 00:13:54.230 viewed quite positively. So even though most 00:13:54.230 --> 00:13:57.149 respondents currently eat mostly animal -based 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:00.230 diets, around two thirds actually hold positive 00:14:00.230 --> 00:14:03.870 views towards plant -based eating. And many are 00:14:03.870 --> 00:14:08.289 also interested in learning more about substituting 00:14:08.289 --> 00:14:10.809 plant -based protein with animal -based protein. 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:15.379 So this is actually quite encouraging. So this 00:14:15.379 --> 00:14:18.240 actually means that openness is there, but behavior 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.940 hasn't really fully shifted. And second, we found 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:27.759 that there is a very strong support for legal 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.779 protections for farmed animals. So depending 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:34.539 on the country, around eight to nine in 10 respondents... 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.240 stated that they support stronger and better 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:41.740 legal protections for farmed land animals. And 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:44.799 this is quite striking and suggests that policy 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.840 -focused efforts in these countries may actually 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:51.860 have a very strong public backing. And another 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:55.659 thing we found was that there is a broad support 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:59.240 for animal protection organizations as well. 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:05.029 And this support is often in the form of the 00:15:05.029 --> 00:15:10.309 public agreeing to following or following the 00:15:10.309 --> 00:15:12.529 organization online or sharing their content 00:15:12.529 --> 00:15:16.090 online and so on. So this kind of signals a potential 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:19.090 base of engagement to build on in these regions 00:15:19.090 --> 00:15:23.149 for advocacy organizations. And at the same time, 00:15:23.149 --> 00:15:25.210 remember that we were also trying to understand 00:15:25.210 --> 00:15:27.950 certain barriers that were standing in front 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:32.149 of change. So we found that strong attachment 00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:36.700 to meet And the belief that eating meat is an 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:41.139 individual's right, this entitlement idea, emerged 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:45.059 as an important one. So in some contexts, we 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:48.059 also found that religious justifications and 00:15:48.059 --> 00:15:50.259 norms around hospitality, you know, one should 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:53.679 be serving meat to be able to be a good host, 00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:57.529 they also appear to be relevant. And just to 00:15:57.529 --> 00:16:00.830 clarify here what we mean by a significant barrier, 00:16:01.210 --> 00:16:03.529 the observation we had was the following. So 00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:06.269 the respondents who scored high on these barrier 00:16:06.269 --> 00:16:09.529 factors such as meat attachment and so on, they 00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:13.690 tended to score lower or one or more of the pathway 00:16:13.690 --> 00:16:16.289 to change measures such as the dietary shifts, 00:16:16.470 --> 00:16:19.649 the openness to cultivated meat, support for 00:16:19.649 --> 00:16:22.230 advocacy groups or stronger legal protections. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:29.159 So let's look at the facilitators also. So pretty 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.820 consistently we found that recognizing the fact 00:16:32.820 --> 00:16:36.759 that farmed animals are sentient and understanding 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:40.000 the links between industrial animal agriculture 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.100 and broader harms such as the climate change 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:49.519 and public health and so on. These were associated 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:54.440 with stronger support across multiple pathways 00:16:54.440 --> 00:17:00.720 to change. And finally, when we asked the respondents 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:04.079 who they see as responsible for educating the 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.680 public about farm animal welfare, we saw that 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.579 government institutions and certification bodies 00:17:12.579 --> 00:17:16.059 were very frequently mentioned. In several countries, 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.740 however, we also saw that religious institutions 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:22.140 were also seen as important actors in this context. 00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:25.019 So from a comparative perspective, this is actually 00:17:25.019 --> 00:17:27.480 quite interesting. So the prominence of religious 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:31.000 institutions as being responsible actors in animal 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.339 welfare is not something that comes up very often 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:36.289 in Western contexts. So this actually suggests 00:17:36.289 --> 00:17:39.430 that the institutional landscape and the strategic 00:17:39.430 --> 00:17:43.089 entry points in these countries may look different 00:17:43.089 --> 00:17:48.549 than the ones in the global north. And beyond 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:51.769 these overall patterns, a few cross country differences 00:17:51.769 --> 00:17:55.230 were especially interesting for us. For example, 00:17:55.549 --> 00:17:59.170 cultivated meat. Support is relatively consistent 00:17:59.170 --> 00:18:03.390 in Qatar, the United Arabian race, Kuwait, and 00:18:03.390 --> 00:18:06.950 Saudi Arabia. like around 1 in 3 respondents. 00:18:07.930 --> 00:18:10.829 But Lebanon really stands out with significantly 00:18:10.829 --> 00:18:15.410 lower support at around 14%. We think this could 00:18:15.410 --> 00:18:18.829 reflect lower familiarity or greater skepticism 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:23.210 towards new food technologies. Or it may also 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.970 relate to broader national contexts like difference 00:18:25.970 --> 00:18:29.089 of the public investment, innovation agendas 00:18:29.089 --> 00:18:32.509 and how prominently food technology features 00:18:32.509 --> 00:18:35.829 in national development strategies. In some Gulf 00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:38.210 countries, alternative proteins and food security 00:18:38.210 --> 00:18:40.809 are already part of public policy conversations 00:18:40.809 --> 00:18:43.869 which could shape awareness and receptiveness. 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:47.089 And another particularly striking pattern that 00:18:47.089 --> 00:18:50.250 we realize relates to meat attachment and legal 00:18:50.250 --> 00:18:53.970 protections. In the UAE, Lebanon and Kuwait, 00:18:54.470 --> 00:18:57.029 respondents who reported a stronger attachment 00:18:57.029 --> 00:19:00.509 to meat were also more likely to support legal 00:19:00.509 --> 00:19:03.910 protections for some animals. And this is an 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:07.930 important and somewhat counterintuitive finding 00:19:07.930 --> 00:19:11.549 at first sight because it suggests that attachment 00:19:11.549 --> 00:19:15.210 to meat does not automatically translate into 00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:19.180 resistance to welfare reforms. People who hold 00:19:19.180 --> 00:19:22.019 positive views about meat can still prefer animals 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:24.799 to be raised under better conditions, whether 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.140 for ethical reasons or because it aligns with 00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:31.839 their ideas of responsible consumption. And finally, 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:35.119 religious and cultural factors changed a variety 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.839 in importance across contexts. In Lebanon and 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.839 Qatar, religious justifications and hospitality 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.240 norms appeared more important to our salient 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.029 at barriers. And in others, they were less central. 00:19:50.190 --> 00:19:54.130 And that really highlights how much context matters. 00:19:55.410 --> 00:19:58.029 What may be a key consideration in one country 00:19:58.029 --> 00:20:02.009 may play a smaller role in another. So approaches 00:20:02.009 --> 00:20:05.869 need to be more sensitive to those differences. 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:10.710 Okay, so we have all these interesting insights 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:13.569 and findings. The next question is, what does 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:17.490 it all mean for advocacy? So one clear takeaway 00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:20.650 is that there's actually real openness to plant 00:20:20.650 --> 00:20:22.849 -based eating, right? Even though the behavior 00:20:22.849 --> 00:20:26.369 hasn't fully shifted, these attitudes are actually 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:29.769 suggesting some room to grow. So we believe that 00:20:29.769 --> 00:20:32.849 advocacy organizations can actually benefit from 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:35.569 building on this existing openness. So they can 00:20:35.569 --> 00:20:37.509 actually use these consumer insights insights 00:20:37.509 --> 00:20:41.529 when they are engaging with corporations, institutions, 00:20:42.089 --> 00:20:46.130 and food service providers, and basically tell 00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:48.549 them that, hey, the public is actually open to 00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:51.809 this, so you should maybe provide more plant 00:20:51.809 --> 00:20:55.369 -based options, improve their quality, and also 00:20:55.369 --> 00:20:58.170 make them more accessible and easier to choose. 00:20:59.190 --> 00:21:02.490 And another important implication is about policy. 00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:08.480 We saw that there's very strong support for legal 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:12.980 protections and advocacy organizations can actually 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:16.039 use this insight when engaging with policymakers 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.799 and regulators and tell them that, you know, 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.559 this is what the public actually wants and expects. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:28.980 And next to this is that, you know, actually 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:34.039 building awareness in the public. about the current 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:38.400 shortages or like current bad practices in the 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:43.099 industrial animal agriculture can create a bigger 00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:45.640 support in the public and a bigger demand in 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:48.900 the public for change. So this is something that 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:52.880 the organizations can also take into account. 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:56.619 And finally, since we saw that government bodies 00:21:56.619 --> 00:22:00.880 and certification institutions are seen as responsible 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.940 actors and also in some context religious institutions 00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:07.400 as well, advocacy efforts may be strengthened 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.019 by communicating these public expectations to 00:22:11.019 --> 00:22:14.720 the relevant actors and by encouraging a discussion 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.579 around farm animal protections and where they're 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:23.769 actually currently lacking. Yeah, so there are 00:22:23.769 --> 00:22:26.549 also important insights about how to engage with 00:22:26.549 --> 00:22:30.549 the public. So basically, many respondents indicated 00:22:30.549 --> 00:22:33.430 willing to support animal protection organizations, 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:36.650 like often starting with low -effort actions 00:22:36.650 --> 00:22:40.450 like following or sharing content online. This 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:43.089 suggests outreach strategies should meet people 00:22:43.089 --> 00:22:47.650 where they are, like it can be offering accessible 00:22:47.650 --> 00:22:51.740 entry points. while also creating clear pathways 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:56.480 for more involvement over time. At the same time, 00:22:56.819 --> 00:22:59.940 the findings remind us that barriers like strong 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:03.599 meat attachments or religious or like hospitality 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.759 norms need to be addressed really thoughtfully. 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.279 That means careful testing, culturally sensitive 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:14.460 messaging and avoiding approaches that might 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:18.960 unintentionally trigger resistance. And finally, 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.319 on the messaging side, one of the most consistent 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:27.660 facilitators we saw across countries was recognizing 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:31.019 animal sentience and understanding the broader 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:34.660 impacts of industrial agriculture, like on health, 00:23:34.940 --> 00:23:38.940 communities, and the environment. So centering 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:42.660 communication around those may resonate across 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:47.309 different contexts. And what is our next step? 00:23:47.549 --> 00:23:51.930 So now that the findings are out there, now it's 00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:55.509 time to implement them. So for this, we are currently 00:23:55.509 --> 00:23:58.009 working in close collaboration with Middle East 00:23:58.009 --> 00:24:00.930 Vegan Society, who's very active in the countries 00:24:00.930 --> 00:24:04.009 that we had mentioned. And we are trying to help 00:24:04.009 --> 00:24:06.210 them translate these insights into practice. 00:24:06.769 --> 00:24:09.109 So together, we'll be developing strategies that 00:24:09.109 --> 00:24:11.970 apply these findings to their public communication, 00:24:12.190 --> 00:24:15.140 their campaign design. and also their engagement 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:19.259 with policymakers. And on top of that, we're 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:22.619 also planning broader engagement opportunities 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:25.460 where other organizations can also benefit from 00:24:25.460 --> 00:24:29.440 these insights. So these include webinars and 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:35.160 also sharing the findings in more depth and also 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:40.619 opening a space for dialogue and questions and 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:45.609 so on. Well, yeah, and we really see this as 00:24:45.609 --> 00:24:48.829 an ongoing conversation because research is only 00:24:48.829 --> 00:24:52.769 valuable if it's used. And that happens mostly 00:24:52.769 --> 00:24:55.829 through collaborations. So if you would like 00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:58.089 to explore the study in more detail, you can 00:24:58.089 --> 00:25:01.009 find the full country of course, along with the 00:25:01.009 --> 00:25:04.609 short two -minute feedback survey. And you can 00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:07.089 find this in the podcast notes and our website 00:25:07.089 --> 00:25:11.819 at enymetrics .org. If you're interested in applying 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:14.880 these findings into your own strategy that can 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.380 look like campaign design, policy engagement, 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:21.500 community outreach or messaging, we are really 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.960 happy to connect. And we just want to remind 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.640 you that this invitation goes beyond this study. 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:30.880 You can also explore our other research projects 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.769 online. If you are thinking about implementation, 00:25:34.230 --> 00:25:37.109 collaboration, or simply like exchanging ideas 00:25:37.109 --> 00:25:40.230 about evidence -based advocacy or any other questions, 00:25:41.190 --> 00:25:44.450 please feel free to get in touch with us. And 00:25:44.450 --> 00:25:47.589 before we wrap up, we would really like to sincerely 00:25:47.589 --> 00:25:51.109 thank The Vegan Report podcast for inviting us 00:25:51.109 --> 00:25:54.309 back and giving us this platform to share our 00:25:54.309 --> 00:25:56.509 work. This is really, really valuable for us 00:25:56.509 --> 00:25:59.569 and it's a great opportunity to continue this 00:25:59.569 --> 00:26:02.529 conversation. And we'd also like to thank our 00:26:02.529 --> 00:26:05.549 funders, Animal Charity Evaluators and Craigslist 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:08.849 Charitable Fund. Their support made this project 00:26:08.849 --> 00:26:12.420 possible in the first place. And finally we would 00:26:12.420 --> 00:26:15.460 like to thank everybody who is listening. We 00:26:15.460 --> 00:26:18.000 appreciate your time, your curiosity and also 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.319 the work that you are doing in whatever format 00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:24.640 that could look like to build a better future 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:28.900 for all non -human animals. Thank you so much 00:26:28.900 --> 00:26:31.599 for listening and hopefully we will see you again 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.000 soon with more research and new projects to share.