Poultry Expertise Centre

About Poultry Expertise Centre

Poultry Expertise Centre (PEC) is a collaborative knowledge and training hub for the poultry sector. It brings together education, research, and industry to support the training of students, entrepreneurs, and employees working in poultry, as well as continuing education and professional development.

PEC positions itself around a healthy, sustainable poultry sector in the Netherlands and internationally. Its work focuses on practical innovation, knowledge sharing, and connecting education with applied and fundamental research so that new ideas can move more quickly into practice.

The organization also emphasizes broader sector challenges such as animal welfare, sustainability, food security, and a strong ecological and economic profile for poultry production.

Core Values

• Sustainability: PEC consistently highlights the transition toward more sustainable poultry production, including attention to emissions reduction, circularity, and environmentally responsible systems.
• Animal welfare: Improving animal welfare is a recurring theme in PEC’s work, from housing and climate to enrichment and practical systems that support better conditions for birds.
• Health and food security: The organization links poultry innovation to healthier production systems, food safety, and food security, reflecting a broader view of sector resilience.
• Collaboration and knowledge transfer: PEC stresses cooperation between education, research, business, and public stakeholders, with a strong focus on sharing knowledge and translating it into practice.

Unique Aspects

• Integrated sector platform: PEC functions as a connector between education, research, and industry rather than as a standalone producer, making it a central coordination point for poultry innovation and training.
• Poultry Innovation Lab: The lab combines a poultry barn and business centre at Aeres MBO Barneveld, creating a hands-on environment for training, experimentation, and knowledge transfer.
• Insect Experience Centre: PEC operates a shared facility for developing and scaling insect applications, including work on black soldier fly systems and insect-based feed concepts for poultry.
• Practical emissions testing: Through the Practical Centre for Emission Reduction in Livestock Farming (PEV), PEC tests affordable, practical emission-reduction techniques in real farm settings and provides an independent knowledge desk.
• International training role: PEC explicitly serves professionals beyond the Netherlands, positioning itself as an international knowledge and training centre for the poultry sector.