About The Danish 3R-Center
In 2005, the Danish government decided to establish DACOPA, the Danish Consensus Platform for Alternative to Animal Experiments, under ECOPA, the European Consensus-Platform for Alternatives.
The purpose of DACOPA was to promote the 3Rs. To do this successfully, they aimed to unite representatives of animal protection and research in the public and private sectors, as well as other officials. This would enable the organization to seek consensus from the parties involved on animal testing issues.
DACOPA consisted of a chairman and two representatives of the four aforementioned groups. This provided an opportunity to share insight and discuss how to efficiently promote the 3Rs in Denmark and abroad. DACOPA was, however, challenged by a lack of funding for research projects, and there was no secretarial assistance provided for the tasks they wished to implement.
The dissatisfaction that resulted from these issues became apparent after an analysis was carried out in 2011/2012; the analysis was comprised of all interest groups in the field of laboratory animals. The nearly unanimous opinion was that Denmark should either allocate sufficient funding to DACOPA or set up a 3R-Center comparable to the British NC3Rs (National Centre for the Replacement and Reduction of Animals in Research) and German Bf3R (German Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals).
In the spring of 2013, the Danish 3R-Center was established after extensive negotiations had been conducted between the Ministry of Food, the pharmaceutical industry and a number of animal welfare organizations. The center was equipped with a scientific board, an independent budget, research funding and a secretariat. The Alternative Fund, the Danish Animal Welfare Society, the Danish Laboratory Animal Protection Society, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk decided to contribute funding for the project, and the Danish Ministry of Food offered research funding and operational capacity. Currently, the Alternative Fund and The Danish Laboratory Animal Protection Society are no longer contributors to the Danish 3R-Center.
Since 2017, DOSO also has supported the 3R-Center.
Our tasks
- Promote the development of alternatives to animal testing
- Minimise the use of laboratory animals in specific experiments
- Improve conditions for laboratory animals
- Disseminate knowledge on alternatives to animal testing
- Initiate and support research in laboratory animal studies and the development of alternatives
- Collaborate with equivalent centers abroad
Research
The 3R-Center will promote the 3Rs through research projects focused on one or more of the 3Rs. They will further promote the 3Rs by publicizing knowledge and advising on the best practices of the 3Rs in Denmark. In order to achieve this, 1.5 million DKK is reserved for research funding every year.
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