The Donkey Sanctuary welcomed a group of Europe’s leading mathematicians and scientists to its Devon headquarters last month as part of the University of Exeter’s 195th UK European Study Group with Industry (ESGI).

The ESGI is a five-day workshop which brings together more than 200 experts to tackle real-world challenges ranging from animal welfare to cyber security and town planning. 

During the study group, participants explored new mathematical and statistical approaches to strengthen the charity’s Donkey Risk Index (DRI) – an innovative tool that identifies where donkeys are most at risk and where support can have the greatest impact, particularly in regions where reliable data is limited.

Working with existing datasets and potential new indicators, the group tested assumptions behind the DRI, evaluated additional measures of risk and investigated new ways of predicting how welfare risks may change over time and across different regions.

‘A brilliant opportunity’

“As a charity we welcome collaboration and partnerships, and this was a brilliant opportunity to work with some of the best minds in maths, science and data to find new and improved ways of helping donkeys wherever they are in the world,” said Alex McKenna, Data Analytics Manager at The Donkey Sanctuary.

The aim was to make the DRI index more robust, helping the charity identify emerging trends, better understand the drivers of welfare risks and support more effective planning, reporting and targeted interventions.

“When people think of mathematics, donkeys aren’t usually the first thing that springs to mind – but that’s what makes the ESGI Study Group conference so much fun,” said Dr Stefan Siegert from the University of Exeter.

“Our team was excited to get stuck into further development of the charity’s Donkey Risk Index, applying the same kind of modelling used in public health and environmental science to a completely different (and very lovable) subject.

“It’s the sort of quirky, real-world problem that mathematicians thrive on.”

Images © The Donkey Sanctuary.

Related content from Your Horse