Who Should Attend PHAIR's Animal Advocacy Conference in 2027?

The Psychology of how we learn to think...no, behave about animals. Or a guide to Animal Advocacy

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been reviewing the psychology of animal advocacy — and how that research can help move the mission of moral inclusion of animals into the mainstream.

No surprise in this takeaway: it’s hard.

This five episode mini-series is a look at the 2025 conference discussing the Psychology of Human/Animal Intergroup Relations. This entire series has been a little different from my usual one‑to‑one interview‑based episodes. Even when I cover other conferences, I usually stick to the tried‑and‑true method of straightforward interviews. It’s a fantastic way to get as much information as possible from the people who do the research or spend their lives thinking about animals.

But in this case, I noticed recurring themes that felt important to explore more deeply than simply asking guests about their work.

These themes became the PHAIR Conference Series.

Episode 1 explored the work of many researchers on the development of moral imagination — particularly in child development. The way children see animals differently from adults was a major topic at the conference and highly relevant to what we looked at in Episode 2.

Episode 2 asked why this moral concern for animals changes or disappears in adulthood. When exactly does this happen, and what seems to cause it?

Episode 3 then allowed us to uncover how behaviour change happens in adults — how people return to that baseline or original state of moral concern for other animals. The findings presented at the conference were grounded and precise. But if you attended the conference and weren’t able to track every session (an impossible feat at any conference), you would have heard many attendees express the same frustration as some of my guests: “Why is it SO hard?”

The answer was in there — not just why it’s hard, but many solutions, researched and presented by some of the most thoughtful and rigorous scientists in the field. I won’t go into all the workable actions here, but the main gist — and the unintuitive twist — is that instead of focusing on changing minds about our obligations to other animals, we have to change behaviour first.

First behaviour, then belief follows.

If we make pro‑animal choices easy, accessible, socially acceptable, healthy, and tasty, then the mind follows.

That wasn’t the end of the takeaways or tensions from the conference.

Episode 4 discussed some of the major friction points between the science of animal advocacy and the advocacy itself — including pushback from pro‑meat/Carnism industries, as well as unexpected pushback from advocates. We talked about scientific bias and the request from advocates to produce science that not only helps the cause but does it fast (hint: research typically doesn’t operate in the fast lane).

In the final episode, we gather these learnings and find a cohesive path to the future of animal advocacy — and a place to start at the 2027 PHAIR Conference, which will be held in Canterbury, England. Save the date: July 14–17th.

My Review

The presenters were thoughtful and open to learning from each other as well as from advocates in the field.

The frustration at the slow pace of change was tangible, there was also an air of camaraderie — and a sense of relief among many animal advocates who could finally relax in the company of others working toward the same goals. The food was vegan, and the location (Edinburgh) was spectacular. Even the activities outside the conference were elevated by the mood, with attendees and speakers meeting at a local bar for drinks, dinner, and some Scottish dancing.

WAIT — was that Peter Singer who just reeled by?! Yes, it was. We were sweaty, happy, and we all looked fantastic on the dance floor.

If you attend one conference in 2027, and you are in any way interested in the human relationship with other animals — whether that’s animal sheltering, welfare, behaviour and training, animals in culture, travel, advocacy, or any of the many ways humans interact with other species on our shared planet — this would be an excellent conference to attend. In other words, Who should attend the 2027 PHAIR Animal Advocacy Conference? You!

The final episode of this series will be published on August 10th. Until then, catch up on the other episodes starting with Episode 146. Then reach out and tell me what surprised you about the series. Did you attend the 2025 PHAIR Conference? Did you pick up any learnings I missed?

Message me at marika@thedealwithanimals.com or on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.