Annual Conference

The ECS convenes once a year in an European country with invited international authorities, talks and posters. This is the ECS Annual Conference at which the Annual General Meeting is also held. Its main theme changes every year. To better accommodate university students, interested in attending the Conference, the meetings alternate between southern and northern Europe as much as possible.

Choice of venue for conferences

Since the founding conference at the North Sea Centre¹ in Hirtshals, Denmark, in January 1987, there has been an unwritten policy to alternate conference venues between northern and southern European countries, and also to vary the region and type of venue as much as possible to encompass all the various interests and backgrounds of members. This policy has enabled members, students and interested non-members to attend our conferences at one time or another. This policy supports the ECS constitution that states that “the objectives of the Society are to promote and co-ordinate the scientific study and conservation of cetaceans; and to gather and disseminate information about cetaceans to Members of the Society and the public at large”. The ECS is also beginning to alternate between Western and Central/Eastern Europe.

Our venues therefore differ widely, but each conference has a theme that echoes the background resources and expertise of the particular hosting organisation each year. The ECS Council consider that this is the best possible way to experience and utilise all the skills and knowledge that abound in our Society, and excluding non-ethical research, inhumane practices and political agendas, the Society tries to encompass all aspects of cetacean research in order to encourage a robust dialogue and interchange of ideas and information between members. The Society is also dependent on potential organisations offering to host the conferences, and in this respect the Council is extremely pleased to receive invitations from a variety of scientific establishments with international reputations.

Annual Conferences:

Conference schedule

The ECS Annual Conference includes three days of speakers, discussion and special interest groups, posters and displays, movies and demonstrations and the state of the art technology in whale and dolphin research. Before and after each conference, at the same location, separate groups will organise specialist workshops on selected topics. The ECS Conference is the place to be, to meet all those people, to see and hear all the latest news. The ECS keeps you informed as whale and dolphin science progresses.

The ECS will provide room for the conference and the workshops, inform you on travel arragements and lodgings. You will need to be there for the best network event available. The conference will host 300-600 attendees, of which some 50% is student.