The Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) Programme held its annual meeting in Sydney, Australia to take advantage of the numerous consortium members who attended the International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE). The meeting took the form of a 2-day workshop with the aim of harnessing the human resources of GBADs to co-construct solutions to current challenges facing the programme. The intended outcome was a shared ownership and buy-in to GBADs’ future and a co-constructed list of ideas for future research proposals.

Joining the existing consortium members, were several additional guests who provided valuable reflections on GBADs past, and suggestions for the future, and insight from their varied career experiences. The workshop opened with ing involved inspirational talks from two of these invited guests. Robyn Alders highlighted the need for new remuneration models that would value animals beyond commodities; and Mark Schipp encouraged the team to continue to push for improved information to support investments in animal health, while also refining an understanding of the value of better data to achieve this goal.

The workshop revolved around a “World Cafe” style discussion, which enabled breakout groups to discuss the challenges that had been identified by consortium members.

The 2 day meeting new ideas to the table and also how we can resolve current challenges. A really successful meeting from everyone involved. The meeting concluded with a panel of invited guests, created with the purpose of challenging the panel and consortium members to clarify their thoughts on the importance of GBADs and the major issues to address as the programme matures.