This Project is part of the Projects of Relevant National Interest (PRIN) programme and aims to carry out a scientific assessment of the approach to animal welfare from a sustainability perspective, critically examining its impact on various industrial and economic activities.
The research will be conducted through scientific legal analysis and a multidisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from biology, veterinary medicine and behavioural sciences.
The Project aims to investigate the following thematic areas:
- Animal welfare and agri-food law;
- Animal law and the textile industry;
- Ecotourism and the protection of animal rights;
- The protection of animal welfare within the European context;
- Artificial intelligence and animal law.
The Project, which commenced in 2023 and ran until December 2025, is based at the University of Milano-Bicocca (coordinating institution), in collaboration with the research unit at the University of Bologna.
WHO WE ARE
Prof. Diana Cerini – Principal Investigator of the Project at the University of Milano-Bicocca
Diana Cerini is Full Professor of Comparative Private Law at the Department of Law of the University of Milano-Bicocca. She is the Principal Investigator of this Project, for which the Department of Law of the University of Milano-Bicocca serves as the coordinating institution. She holds the Jean Monnet Chair in Animal Law in a Comparative and Global Perspective (2023–2026). She is also Scientific Director of CELIS (Centre for Law, Innovation and Sustainability) at the same University, where, since 2020, she has also coordinated and directed the postgraduate executive course in Animal Law and Animal Welfare. She has been a Visiting Professor at numerous foreign universities, with which she continues to collaborate on Master’s programmes and research projects in the fields of insurance law, financial law and animal law.
Prof. Francesca Rescigno – Head of the Research Unit at the University of Bologna
Francesca Rescigno is Associate Professor of Public Law and Equal Opportunities Law at the University of Bologna, where she has been teaching since 2002. She has obtained the qualification for appointment as Full Professor of Comparative Public Law. Her academic, research and teaching activities have focused, from a comparative perspective, on issues relating to equality and equal opportunities, the treatment of foreign nationals, political and oversight institutions, fundamental rights, and the legal status of animals. In 2014, she was the only Italian legal scholar invited to participate in the Second World Conference on Animal Law, held in Barcelona. She is the author of eight monographs and more than one hundred publications in prestigious Italian and international academic journals. She has long been actively involved in third-mission initiatives aimed at promoting constitutional culture. In September 2019, she designed and introduced an innovative course in Equal Opportunities Law, which was approved by the Presidents of the various degree programmes and by the Teaching Committee.
Attività
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Pubblicazioni
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