The Scientific Partners of BIOECON are pleased to announce the Twentieth International BIOECON Conference on the theme of “Land-use, Agriculture and Biodiversity: Spatial and Temporal Issues”. The Conference will be held at Kings College Cambridge, United Kingdom between the 12th – 14th September 2018. BIOECON XX will be of interest to both researchers and policy makers working on issues associated with land-use decisions and its impact on biodiversity. In particular, BIOECON XX aims to focus on agriculture, the conservation of biodiversity and crop genetic diversity, and the use of spatial data to study these issues. Submissions are welcome on this theme which highlight experiences in both developed and developing countries, or trade related issues between the two.

Our keynote speakers will be Prof Paul Ferraro (Johns Hopkins University) and Prof Douglas Gollin (University of Oxford). Prof Ferraro will talk on the evaluation of conservation programmes and instruments. Prof Gollin will talk on issues surrounding agriculture and the in-situ conservation of crop genetic diversity.

In addition to the conference theme, BIOECON XX aims to have parallel sessions on a broad range of topics within the umbrella of biodiversity economics including: the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in economic development, plant genetic resources and food security issues, deforestation and development, fisheries, institutions and instruments (e.g. Payments for Ecosystem Services), development and conservation, wildlife conservation and endangered species, international trade and regulation and climate change. For a flavour of previous conferences go to this link http://www.bioecon-network.org/pages/events-01.html.

In particular, submissions are invited on the themes of:

BIOECON also has the goal of influencing policy-makers and policy. To this end expert policy panels will be organised. The purpose of these panels will be to bring together practitioners (Government, private sector, NGO) and academics from different disciplines to discuss current policy related issues in biodiversity conservation and environment. The panel sessions will be supported by and contribute to the aims and goals of and the funding partners. Two policy panel sessions will take place, one of which will focus on the role of valuation studies in informing the valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services in policy to date.

Further, we will hold a pre-conference Workshop on “The Role of Social Preferences in Promoting Conservation Behaviour”, that will be hosted on the 12th of September 2018 in King’s College. The Workshop is organised by Prof Stefanie Engel (Alexander von Humboldt-Professor of Environmental Economics, Osnabrück University), Prof Andreas Kontoleon (University of Cambridge) and Dr Elisabeth Gsottbauer (University of Innsbruck). It is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. The Workshop will focus on the current debate about the role of social preferences in promoting conservation behaviour. This includes the impact of social preferences on conservation behaviour, the role of social preferences in understanding the performance of environmental policies (such as payments for environmental services), and the potential for conservation policy interventions to promote or trigger social preferences. Scholars from several disciplines including behavioural and environmental economics and social psychology will present frontier research on these issues. The Workshop will lay particular emphasis on discussing lessons from experimental studies. The programme will be announced by mid-June 2018. Spaces in the Workshop are limited and participation for BIOECON conference delegates is by invitation only. Interested parties should contact Dr Elisabeth Gsottbauer (Elisabeth.Gsottbauer@uibk.ac.at ). There is no additional workshop registration fee, but costs for attending the event (accommodation and meals for an extra day) will be incurred by the participant unless waived by the workshop organisers. Payment will be accepted via the same conference website once it is open.

The Conference will open with a reception at King’s College on early evening of Wednesday 12th of September.  Conference sessions will commence on the morning of the 13th of September and conclude on the afternoon of the 14th of September. The conference banquet will take place at the main Dining Hall of King’s College on the evening of the 13th of September.