The Ecosystem Services Partnership aims to facilitate discussion and cooperation amongst those working in the field of ecosystem services, and its members especially. In order to do so, ESP has organised international conferences annually since 2008. As of 2015 ESP shifted to a bi-annual cycle for the World Conferences, with Regional conferences in the in between year.
In order to enable as many ecosystem services professionals around the globe to join and share knowledge, we shift the location of our international conferences to a different continent each year. In this way, we strengthen ties between professionals from all over the world, so best practices in the field of ecosystem services can be shared and ideally implemented elsewhere.
Upcoming conferences
In the period 2020/2021 we will be organising a series of regional conferences. Several regional conferences have already been announced:
- 3rd ESP Latin America and Caribbean Conference, 25-27 November 2020, Mexico City, Mexico (online)
- 2nd ESP MENA Conference, 27-29 January 2021, Rabat, Morocco
- 3rd ESP Africa Conference, 1-5 March 2021, Rwanda
- 3rd ESP Europe Conference, 7-10 June 2021, Tartu, Estonia
- ACES-ESP Conference, 13-16 December 2021, Bonita Springs, Florida, USA
- 4th ESP Europe Conference, Spring 2022, Greece
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of the dates have been changed and the ESP LAC 2020 conference has changed format to virtual. For most up-to-date information, please visit each conference website.
Suggestions for other regional conferences are welcome, especially from regions not mentioned above. If you are interested in organising an ESP regional conference in 2020/2021, you can express interest by filling out this form and sending it to [email protected].
3rd ESP Latin America and Caribbean Conference
25-27 November 2020, Mexico City, Mexico
The 3rd ESP regional conference for the Latin America and the Caribbean region will take place between 25-27 November 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. The conference theme is Transcending the study of Ecosystem Services towards Transdiscipline and Incidence. The list of sessions and presentations is available here.
The conference will take place in a virtual format. You can register for the event here.
Learn more about the conference at the offical website.
2nd ESP MENA Conference
27-29 January 2021, Rabat, Morocco
Our second conference for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region with theme Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services into regional and national policies in the Middle East and Northern Africa will take place in Rabat, Morocco.
You can still submit a late session proposal. We encourage everyone who is working in the field of ecosystem services as a scientist/researcher, policy-maker or practitioner to submit a session proposal. Check the call for sessions page for more information and to submit your proposal.
The online abstracts submission system will be open from 23 September to 27 November 2020. Find out more on the official event website.
3rd ESP Africa Conference 2021
Rwanda, 1-5 March
After Kenya and Togo, the ESP Africa conference moves to Rwanda for its third edition, Ecosystem services for the future: Delivering value for Nature, Livelihoods and Economic Investment. We encourage everyone who is working in the field of ecosystem services as a scientist/researcher, policy-maker or practitioner to submit a session proposal. The call for sessions is open until 30 October.
The conference will take place at the Classic resort lodge in Musanze, Rwanda. Find out more on the official website.
3rd ESP Europe Conference 2021
7-10 June, Tartu, Estonia
Our next regional conference for Europe will take place in Tartu, Estonia under the theme Ecosystem Service Science, Policy and Practice in the face of Global Changes.
The call for sessions is open for additional session proposals. We especially encourage session proposals focusing on the relationship between ecosystems and human health. You can submit a session before 30 September 2020. After we review the new sessions and revise the program, we will re-open the call for abstracts. Please keep an eye on the conference website.
During this conference, pre-conference trainings will be organised. This is a unique opportunity for conference participants to acquire new skills or sharpen existing ones. If you would like to provide a pre-conference training, please contact us at [email protected].
ACES-ESP Conference
13-16 December 2021, Bonita Springs, Florida, USA
The ACES 2020 conference focuses on linking state-of-the-art science, practice, and decision making by bringing together the ecosystem services community and decision makers from around the United States and the globe. The conference which was to take place in December 2020 is now postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more about this conference on the official website.
Call for expression of interest for hosting regional conferences 2020/2021 and ESP 11th World Conference 2022
To further strengthen and grow our network globally, we will organise a new round of regional conferences in 2020 and 2021. Interested in organising an ESP regional conference in 2020/2021? You can express interest by filling out this form and sending it to [email protected].
In 2022 it is time to get together again with the global community for the 11th ESP World Conference. We are currently looking for a suitable location and local partners. If you are interested in hosting the 11th ESP World Conference, please fill out this expression of interest form and send it to [email protected].
ESP 10th World Conference
ESP hosted the 10th ESP World Conference in Hannover, Germany from 21-25 October 2019. The theme of the anniversary conference was 10 years advancing ecosystem services science, policy and practice for a sustainable future. We welcomed over 750 delegates from more than 65 countries worldwide, making this the biggest ESP conference to date. You can read more about ESP10 here. The proceedings are available online.
Previous Conferences
The first ever ESP conference was held in 2008, and since then many global and regional conferences have been organised by the partnership across. Find out more about the previous ESP conferences on this page.
You can find all conference pictures on ESP’s official Flickr page.