CONTEXT

In systems design for livestock husbandry, the tendency is to focus on technical measures and to control the behaviour of animals in order to reduce complexity and make system functioning predictable, thereby often treating animals as agricultural objects. However, treating animals as agents and providing in opportunities for animal agency – defined as being able to control the (social and physical) environment through choice and decision-making by the animal based on individual preferences and demands – is recognized as being important in having positive experiences and in achieving good animal welfare. The opportunity of an animal to use one's capacities to control one's environment is important for the animal herself, and, at the same time, can contribute to the functioning of the system.

OBJECTIVE

We propose a design approach, Animal Capacities in Design (ACiD), that enables engineers of livestock systems to include animals' capacities into the design process and promotes more animal agency in the final design.

METHODS

The ACiD approach, which was partly developed through a series of workshops with engineers, involves the systematic and structured consideration of animal physiological, morphological and behavioural capacities as well as system functions and sub-functions in order to identify animal-based solutions.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

ACiD consists of different parts: a Brief of Capacities (BoC), BoC user guidelines, and BoC application instructions. The BoC is a design tool that provides an overview of capacities of a specific animal species, further specified and ordered by means of capacity attributes that provide additional information to understand and deploy these capacities in the design process. An attitude shift towards ‘providing agency’ instead of the currently dominant engineering paradigm of ‘taking care of’ is needed for successful application. ACiD stimulates this change in attitude through the inclusion of animal agency in the design goals, the set-up of an overview of requirements that includes positive welfare requirements, and it challenges engineers to (re)define functions in such a way that they allow for non-technical solutions enlarging the solution space for more active animal involvement.

SIGNIFICANCE

The ACiD approach facilitates and creates accessibility to relevant biological information for designers during the design process and aims to integrate the animal and her capacities in new and sustainable designs of livestock husbandry. The promise is a mutual beneficial relation between human goals and good animal welfare in future livestock husbandry systems.

中文翻译：

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通过设计实现良好的动物福利：将动物能力纳入工程设计的方法

语境

在畜牧业的系统设计中，趋势是集中于技术措施并控制动物的行为，以降低复杂性并使系统功能可预测，从而经常将动物视为农业对象。但是，将动物视为代理人并为动物提供代理机会（被定义为能够通过动物根据个人的喜好和要求进行选择和决策来控制（社会和自然）环境）对于拥有积极的经验并实现良好的动物福利。动物利用自己的能力控制环境的机会对动物本身很重要，同时也可以促进系统的功能。

客观的

我们提出一种设计方法“设计中的动物能力（ACiD）”，使家畜系统的工程师能够将动物的能力纳入设计过程，并在最终设计中促进更多的动物代理。

方法

ACiD方法是通过与工程师举行的一系列研讨会而部分开发的，它涉及动物生理，形态和行为能力以及系统功能和子功能的系统化和结构化考虑，以便识别基于动物的解决方案。

结果与结论

ACiD由不同部分组成：功能简介（BoC），BoC用户指南和BoC应用说明。BoC是一种设计工具，可概述特定动物的能力，并通过能力属性进一步指定和排序，这些能力属性可提供更多信息，以在设计过程中了解和部署这些能力。为了成功应用，需要朝着“提供代理”的态度转变，而不是从目前占主导地位的“照顾”工程范式转变。ACiD通过将动物代理商纳入设计目标，建立包括福利要求，

意义

ACiD方法在设计过程中为设计者提供了便利，并为他们提供了有关生物信息的可访问性，旨在将动物及其能力整合到新的可持续畜牧业设计中。诺言是人类目标与未来畜牧业系统中良好的动物福利之间的互惠关系。