Clean water, fresh air, insects pollinating crops so that fruit and vegetables can grow - nature provides many things that are indispensable for our lives. The term "ecosystem services" refers to essential goods and non-material benefits that humans gain from nature. This topic is the focal point of an international specialist conference that will take place between Monday 21 October and Friday 25 October 2019. For the first time, the event will be held at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH). The 10th World Conference of Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) will be guided by the motto "10 years advancing ecosystem services science, policy and practice for a sustainable future". On Monday at 10.30 a.m., the conference will - among other things - commence with an opening speech by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Wriggers (LUH Vice President for Research), in the main university building "Welfenschloss", Welfengarten 1, Hannover. The venue for the following days will be Hannover Congress Centre, Theodor-Heuss-Platz 1-3. Representatives of the media are cordially invited to attend.
A detailed conference programme is available online: https://www.espconference.org/esp10
With 750 participants from 66 countries, ESP10 is the largest conference on the subject worldwide. Speakers include Dr. Klaus Töpfer (former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and former Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety), Prof. Dr. Robert Costanza (one of the "forefathers" of the ecosystem services approach; Australian State University), Dr. Christiane Paulus (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety), Anne Larigauderie (Executive IPBES Secretary), and Hans Bruyninckx (Executive Director of the European Environment Agency). The speakers will share their perspectives on the multifaceted application potential of the ecosystem services concept in the fields of science, politics, and society. The last day of the conference will focus on developing sustainable strategies for the future. For this, a member of the "Fridays for Future" movement has been invited to join a panel discussion.
ESP world conferences are held every two years. In addition, regional conferences take place on a regular basis. In collaboration with Ecosystem Services Partnership, this year''s conference is organised by the Institute of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology (led by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Burkhard), the Institute of Environmental Planning (both at LUH), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR) in Dresden, Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, as well as the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in Halle-Jena-Leipzig.
Note to editors:
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Benjamin Burkhard, Institute of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology at Leibniz University Hannover (Tel. +49 511 762 3537, Email burkhard@phygeo.uni-hannover.de).
