At the 8th ESP World conference in 2015, ESP decided to organize ESP World conferences bi-annually, and regional conferences in the intermediate years. The aim of these regional conferences is to enable people from all around the world to share ecosystem services knowledge and strengthen local networks.
Upcoming conferences
In the period 2020/2021/2022 we are organising a series of regional conferences. The regional conferences for Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe already took place. Here are the regional conferences still to come:
- 3rd ESP Africa Conference, 8-10 June 2022, Musanze, Rwanda (hybrid)
- 2nd ESP MENA Conference, 2022, Agadir, Morocco
- 4th ESP Europe Conference, 10-14 October 2022, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
- ACES-ESP Conference, 12-15 December 2022, Washington, DC, USA
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of the dates have been changed. 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 Africa Conference
8-10 June 2022, Musanze, Rwanda
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.
The conference will take place at the Classic resort lodge in Musanze, Rwanda. Online participation is also possible. Registration is currently open. Find out more on the official website.
4th ESP Europe Conference
10-14 October 2022, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
The next European conference will take place on the beatiful island of Crete! The theme of this conference is Ecosystem services empowering people and societies in times of crises.
The aim of this European ESP Conference is to highlight pathways for involving diverse societal groups (e.g., local stakeholders, public and private decision makers, NGOs, civil society organizations, students, businesses) in ES science, policy and practice. Besides the participation of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers, we further invite the general public, activist communities and civil society organizations to participate in the conference discussions. We will organize events and dedicated sessions in formats that are directed to the public (e.g., discussion forums, world cafes) and generate media outputs for ES specialists and broader audiences.
Keep an eye on the event website for updates.
2nd ESP MENA Conference
2022, Agadir, 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 Agadir, Morocco.
Find out more on the official event website.
ACES-ESP Conference
Posponed: 12-16 December 2022, Washington, DC, USA
The ACES 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 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more about the conference on the official website.
Concluded conferences 2020/2021
Below find more information about the two conferences from the current regional conference cycle which already took place – the 3rd ESP Latin America and Caribbean conference and the 3rd ESP Europe Conference. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the planning for both of these conferences required some major changes – the ESP LAC took place fully online, and the ESP Europe had to be postponed, and finally took place in a ybrid format.
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 was organised between 25-27 November 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. The conference took place online and the theme was Transcending the study of Ecosystem Services towards Transdiscipline and Incidence. The list of sessions and presentations is available here.
Learn more about the conference at the offical website.
3rd ESP Europe Conference
7-10 June 2021, Tartu, Estonia
The 3rd European ESP Conference took place in Tartu, Estonia under the theme Ecosystem Service Science, Policy and Practice in the face of Global Changes. This was our first ever hybrid conference, with participants joining through a digital platform and in person at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu.
The conference proceedings, including recordings of the sessions and plenaries, are available here.
3rd ESP Asia Conference
15-17 December 2021, Nagasaki, Japan (ONLINE)
Our third conference for Asia took place in December 2021, under the theme Eco-health and ecosystem services in Asia: Bottom-up aspects for planetary health.
Check the event website for the proceedings and more information.
Regional ESP conferences 2018/2019
The previous cycle of regional conferences included:
- ESP MENA Conference, 22-25 April 2018, Dead Sea, Jordan
- ESP Asia Conference, 9-13 October 2018, Dehradun, India
- ESP Europe Conference, 15-19 October 2018, in San Sebastian, Spain
- ESP Latin America and the Caribbean, 22-25 October 2018, Conference in Campinas, Brazil
- ESP Africa Conference, 17-20 June 2019, Kpalime, Togo
On 3-6 December 2018 our colleagues from A Community for Ecosystem Services held the ACES 2018 Conference in Washington DC, USA.
On 2-6 September 2019 our colleagues from the Oceania Ecosystem Services Forum held the OESF 2019 Conference in Otautachi (Christchurch), Aotearoa New Zealand.
Find out more on our Previous Conferences page.
Regional ESP conferences 2016
ESP regional conferences took place in 2016 for the first time on four different continents: Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Check the previous conferences for more information. Also in North America the bi-annual conference with ACES was held.
To learn from this year ESP has compiled a survey report consisting of survey results of the four conferences. Read the survey report regional conferences 2016.
Oceania Ecosystem Services Forum
From 27-31 March 2017 the Oceania Ecosystem Services Forum took place in Brisbane, Australia. Learn more at the official website of the event.