Optimising the expertise of WOAH Collaborating Centres

Since 2018, the eight World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) Collaborating Centres for Training and Education have been active members of the WOAH Platform for the Training of Veterinary Services. As such, they contribute to the development of the Competency-Based Training Framework and to the development of WOAH’s quality-focused approach to training, providing pedagogical and methodological expertise.

One of the Platform priorities has been the design of specific guidelines setting out the core and (when necessary) advanced requirements that must be followed at each stage of the training cycle (learning needs assessment, design, delivery, and evaluation). These guidelines are strategically important in guaranteeing the quality and robustness of the Organisation’s Training System. The guidelines containing the core requirements for the development of eLearning modules have been published on the WOAH Training Portal. All WOAH eLearning providers are asked to follow them, while other continuing education providers (including WOAH Members) are encouraged to consider them in the development of their eResources.

This innovative approach represents a win-win model of collaboration, allowing these centres of excellence to play an important role in the development of one of the WOAH flagship programmes while enabling the Organisation to benefit from first-class expertise and know-how. Coherence with the strategic objectives of the WOAH Training System is guaranteed by a five-year joint workplan that is aligned with the Collaborating Centres terms of reference and the Guidance for the Management of WOAH Collaborating Centre Networks.

Globalising training provision through a network of networks

The Platform intends to gradually integrate the networks of other Reference Centres in order to combine the methodological competencies of the existing members with the scientific and technical expertise of the other WOAH consolidated networks. The ambition is to transform the WOAH Platform into a network of networks that enables Centres to work together, thus optimising all their expertise. If possible, over the long term, a joint workplan will be finalised to help achieve the strategic objectives of the WOAH training system. It is hoped that this pilot experience will inspire innovative approaches to the management of Collaborating Centres and Reference Laboratories (and, most of all, their networks), which are a key component of the WOAH science system.

https://doi.org/10.20506/bull.2023.1.3389