Using participatory research approaches to favour grazing practices of large herds of dairy cows

International audienceThe ‘LIT OUESTEREL’ association is an open innovation device that relies on living lab principles. Its ambition is to reconcile livestock and society by addressing societal issues linked to animal welfare and the use of antimicrobials. In that framework, we develop in Normandy a specific project aimed at maintaining grazing practices for large herds of dairy cattle. This project relies on a six-year experiment called Tripl’XL implemented at the INRAE experimental farm of Le Pin-au-Haras. The objective of this experiment is to assess the behaviour, health, and welfare of dairy cows on pasture, by developing animal welfare indicators of grazing cows. One objective is to assess whether increasing pasture practices increases animal welfare. This experiment is also used to implement a participatory research approach involving local stakeholders, from farmers to consumers. The objective here is to co-construct innovations that can be tested within the experiment. It is also to assess the advantages and disadvantages of innovations (multi-criteria analysis) to define the conditions of adoption and diffusion. This communication briefly introduces the association and the experiment. It describes the methodology of the participatory research approach and provides a first appraisal of the latter after more than one year of implementation