Livestock and Climate Change - Course Feedback

Livestock and Climate Change - A Veterinary Perspective, the self-directed eLearning course from VetSalus, officially launched in December 2023. The course has been designed to equip farm veterinary professionals with knowledge on the key issues of our time – climate change and animal health and welfare, and leverage our unique role as trusted advisors to the food and farming businesses around the world. 

With the course approaching the end of its first year, VetSalus spoke with participants to understand how they found their learning experience, and what impact this has had on their approach to sustainability conversations with their clients.

Tanja Nielsen, livestock vet at Din Kvægpraksis in Central Denmark, first heard about the course through her employers who are part of the Dyrlæger & Ko group and members of VetSalus Scandinavia. We asked Tanja what her learning objectives were for taking the course:

I wanted to have a better understanding of what impact the dairy industry has on climate change and how we may improve this, such as learning the basic principles of global warming and what is meant by a CO₂Eq.

The course is hosted through an online learning platform with images, videos and other interactive elements interspersed throughout the text. Each module has a module champion who guides the participants through the content with quotes and comments through the text. There are also quizzes, tasks and deep dives allowing participants the opportunity to explore areas of interest.

The course pages were simple and easy to navigate. I must say that being able to do the course online and in my own time was the thing that made it possible for me…. I really think this is the future of theoretical knowledge. 

The course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and confidence to make changes in their own work, and the tools to support farming clients to meet their goals. We asked Tanja how the course had developed her professionally:

The way I talk about biodiversity, emissions and ‘efficiency’ has definitely changed, and so has my approach to the subject -  I don't avoid the subject as much as I used to!

Within the course, participants discuss our spheres of influence as veterinary professionals and our ability to influence change. We asked Tanja if she felt the course had improved her understanding of and ability to practice sustainably:

Definitely improved my knowledge and understanding, yes. The whole emission category was an eye opener, and the complexity of emissions regarding nutrition and husbandry. Also it gave me some insight into the future demands for food supply that I didn’t at all know before.

To find out more about the course itself, please visit our dedicated Learn website: https://learn.vetsalus.com/pages/livestock-and-climate-change-a-veterinary-perspective . Registration for our e-learning course is available year-round and at a price of £495.00 +VAT (other currencies also available). We have also developed the course to be delivered in person, having done so in Denmark in October 2024.  

Details of our 2025 in-person offering will be available soon. If you are interested in face-to-face training opportunities, please let us know