Invitation

Dear Delegates,

as the Head of the Veterinary Sciences Department of the University of Turin, I wish to warmly welcome all of you, who attend this 34th EAEVE General Assembly, in presence or virtually.

The COVID – 19 pandemic is still challenging our lives and work, but I hope that this will be an occasion of starting to live and operate at our establishments in an increasingly normal way. In the meantime, all the experiences we went through in these difficult recent months will help us, I am sure, in inspiring new models of teaching, and to prepare a new and modern generation of veterinarians, even if the history and tradition will guide us; in particular in Torino, we don’t forget that the ancestor of our Establishment was the Veterinary School in the Kingdom of Savoy, founded in 1769 and initially located in Venaria Reale (15 km from Torino centre).
The first Director, Giovanni Brugnone (1741-1818), had been educated at the School of Lyon, France, on the wishes of King Carlo Emanuele III, who was concerned with the special needs of cavalry in a period of frequent wars. This new School was the first established in Italy and the fourth in Europe. The School was then repeatedly relocated to different royal premises in Piedmont, and finally settled in Turin (Via Nizza, at that time on the outskirts of the main City) in 1859.
In 1934, the School became one of the Faculties of the University of Torino, and the premises were progressively incorporated in the growing urban environment.

In 1999, the Faculty (nowadays Department of Veterinary Sciences) was relocated to a wide area in Grugliasco, 11 km from the centre of Turin, in a shared campus with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Sciences. The new facilities, including a Special Didactic Veterinary Complex (acronym SDSV) have been designed to meet all the needs of current students and teachers by providing inter alia a teaching farm, a fully equipped veterinary hospital, a didactic slaughterhouse and a campus kennel.

The evolution of the Establishment over more than two centuries, from exclusively serving military needs to fully embrace the “One Health” view, reflects the scientific, professional and social evolution of the veterinary profession.

In 2019, the Department of Veterinary Sciences celebrated its 250th anniversary of veterinary teaching.

In other pages of this site, you will have the opportunity to feel the unique atmosphere of Torino, the first capital of Italy; a baroque city with a marvellous and unexpected city centre, filled with cultural possibilities.

The end of September – early October is a period of warm weather in Torino and the night will be perfect for a walk or an ice cream….

We are preparing to host the General Assembly at the Veterinary Sciences department, well served by public transportation from the city.

I hope to see you all in Torino!