Is "climate-friendly" beef really a sustainable solution? Are cage-free hens the answer to animal welfare concerns plaguing the egg industry? Questions and debates abound as advocates, entrepreneurs and businesses work to build a greener, more humane economy – all while navigating industry spin. As a result, there’s a growing need for leaders and experts in sustainability and animal welfare who also possess skills in business and innovation.
That’s where Huron University’s Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership (AESL) program comes in. Western University’s Huron University College may be one of Canada’s oldest universities, founded in 1863, but this year the London, Ontario, institution is offering up a very new degree. The AESL program is said to be the first of its kind in the world, aiming to arm students with a fundamental understanding of crucial issues relating to animal welfare and the environment, as well as giving them practical leadership skills to be able to put that understanding into action.
“It is for economic, ethical and environmental reasons that there’s such a significant need for this program,” says Kendra Coulter, the program’s coordinator and a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. It’s a degree she says she “dreamed of” when she was a student. The professor of management and organizational studies is a globally recognized expert in animal protection and the author of the recently published book Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection. “I think the primary purpose of my life is to improve and save animals’ lives,” she says.
Coulter developed the AESL program to offer a unique mix of knowledge and skills that she says will turn out graduates able to take on roles in animal welfare in the private, public and non-profit sectors. “The goal is for graduates to be effective in a range of different roles with an ability to really hit the ground running in organizations and companies of different kinds.”
Required classes for the program include Animal Welfare and Sustainability Leadership, Nature and Technology, Animals in Law and Policy, and Animal Ethics. Electives include management and organizational studies, social sciences and arts. “It’s a distinct combination of social science, arts and business education,” Coulter explains.
It’s also a launch pad for budding plant-based entrepreneurs, those students interested in creating their own ventures in the plant-based economy – say, in the fashion and beauty sectors.
Huron’s AESL degree has come along at a crucial time, with billions of animals being exploited by the meat and dairy industry every year. Labels like Tyson Foods’s “climate-smart” beef – which is now at the centre of a lawsuit over misleading marketing claims in the United States – make it all the more confusing for consumers. “Business is very much a cause of key animal and environmental damage,” Coulter says. “At the same time, businesses can be drivers of solutions, and that’s what this degree is intended to do.”
The program welcomed its first round of students this fall. Animal rights advocate Cogie Cogan, founder of the Western Environmental Business club, is part of the program’s first cohort. “It perfectly merges my passion for animal protection with the law and business skills needed to make a difference for animals,” Cogan says. Upon graduation, the honours student hopes to either work for a plant-based food start-up or start their own business in this sector. “I believe AESL [is equipping] me with the skills and knowledge to make a meaningful impact for animals in various ways.”
For her part, Coulter says it’s an honour to see “what these extraordinary young leaders are going to be able to accomplish for our shared planet, and the creation of a more humane and sustainable future.”
