By: Leticia Fantinel and Verónica Policarpo

In February, the first post of a series of three was published, detailing the first steps of the Human-Animal Studies Hub (HAS-Hub). The post presents the first seeds of the Hub and the ingredients that helped it grow and gain some breath. With the mission of establishing and supporting a network of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and institutions interested in Human-Animal Studies who speak (not only but also) Portuguese, the HAS-Hub has been an important reference for researchers in the field. The Hub has been playing a crucial role in helping us to build a community, fostering collaboration and enabling us to work together to achieve common goals.

The series of posts reveal that the Hub is expanding, with the seeds already planted and the growth environment under close attention. Now, it is time to focus on nurturing the growth process so that the branches can become strong and fruitful. This post is dedicated to one of these branches – the research line “Animals and Organizations”. This is one of the two new research lines stemming from the synergies created in the course of post-doctoral projects developed at the Hub, the other one focusing on “Animals and Education”. Both will add to the already existing research strands that animate the HAS-Hub since 2018 – “Companion Animals” (Animals and Children, Animals and Personal Life), “Animals in Disasters”, and “Animals and Sustainability” (farmed animals, food animals, transition to plant-based diets).