Keynote Speakers

The Scientific Partners of BIOECON are pleased to announce the Twenty-fourth International BIOECON Conference on the theme of “Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals”. The Conference will be held at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on 31st August – 1st September 2023. BIOECON XXIII will be of interest to both researchers and policymakers working on issues associated with finance and economics and their impact on biodiversity.

Conference keynote speakers will be Professor Erin Sills (NC State University) and Rashid Sumaila (U. British Columbia).

In addition to the conference theme, BIOECON XXIV aims to have parallel sessions on a broad range of topics within the umbrella of biodiversity economics and the sustainable develppment goals, including: marine and ocean economics, 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. Further, biodiversity finance, risk assessment and corporate disclosure, corporate governance structure and process, organisational change, valuation and investor behaviour are highly welcomed for submission. 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:

  • Instruments for conservation in the context of land-use and biodiversity
  • Evaluation of biodiversity-related policies and programmes
  • The use of spatial data to study impacts on biodiversity and conservation programmes
  • The conservation and value of crop genetic diversity
  • Institutional frameworks for resource conservation (property rights, market instruments etc.)
  • The role of behavioural economics in biodiversity conservation policy design
  • Experimental (lab and field) approaches to biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation
  • Institution-building for provision of global public goods
  • Issues of governance and management of natural resources in developing countries
  • Development, growth and resource constraints
  • Resources management, distribution, development, poverty alleviation.
  • Resource restauration
  • Experimental or survey research on the households’, investors’, or executives’ biodiversity preferences or beliefs.

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 the environment. The panel sessions will be supported by and contribute to the aims and goals of the funding partners. The precise composition of the Policy Panels is to be announced. The first will focus

Further, a pre-conference tour guide of the most relevant historical places of downtown UNESCO site Santiago de Compostela will take place on Wednesday  30th September 2023. Attending this activity is at no extra cost, though you will need to be in Santiago de Compostela at 16h on the 30th of September. You’ll also need to ensure that you bring suitable footwear. Those who may wish to stay over the weekend are invited to a excursion along the Galician cost.  We will visit on Saturday a few villages along the Galician coast, getting up to the area named “Death Coast.” The name was given because of the large number of shipwrecks.  We will finish our excusion walking on the Carnota beach, one of the largest and nicest beaches in Galicia, where we will be having an informal lunch.  We hope that this will be a nice environment for those who want to attend to come together before and after the conference.

The Conference will open with a drinks reception (and food) at Pazo Fonseca on Wednesday 30th August, at 19.30h. Conference sessions will commence on the morning of the 31th August and conclude on the afternoon of the 1st September. The conference banquet will take place at the on the evening of the 31st August at Hotel San Francisco.

SUBMISSIONS
Complete papers may be submitted for presentation within the BIOECON Conference and only complete papers will be considered by the Scientific Programme Committee. Electronic copies should be sent to bioecon@bioecon-network.org no later than Monday 22rd May 2023. Please include Abstract, JEL Codes and Keywords with your submission. Acceptance of papers will be notified by email by Monday 5th June 2023. If you wish to be considered for a bursary (details below) please indicate this when you apply. Applying for a bursary will not affect whether your paper is selected (indeed, the paper may be accepted even if we are unable to offer a bursary).

It is also possible to submit 3-4 papers together as a suggested “special session” under a theme similar to those indicated above. The Scientific Partners reserve the right to accept papers on an individual basis, so it is possible that even when a session is not accepted, individual papers within the session might be so.

Once again BIOECON XXIII welcomes suggestions for a special natural sciences or interdisciplinary parallel session to foster more interdisciplinary collaboration with the BIOECON network. Sessions proposed should focus on any aspect of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services and need not be exclusively focussed on economic methodologies or approaches.

REGISTRATION

In-person attendees will be charged €260 to cover: accommodation (on a B&B basis on San Martin Pinario) on the 30th and 31st of August; drinks reception on 30th of August; banquet dinner on the 1st; lunch and teas and coffees on 31 st and 1st. Accommodation (on a B&B basis) is also available for the nights of the 1st and 2nd, at €80/night at different prebooked hotels in town. The planned excursion is at no additional charge.

For presenters who wish to present virtually there will be a fee of €120. Virtual attendees who are not presenting are welcome to attend free of charge. All other questions regarding fees, registrations and accommodation should be sent to the conference secretariat at bioecon@bioecon-network.org.

There will be a limited number of bursaries made available which will allow some presenters to attend free of charge (though they will NOT cover travel to the conference). These will be directed towards PhD students and early career researchers, and particularly those who are based at institutions in the Global South. As noted above, please indicate if you would like to apply for a bursary when submitting your paper.

Registration will open on 29th May 2023. Registration for all in-person conference attendees, and presenters (whether in person or virtual) is due by Tuesday 4th July 2023. It may be possible for in-person attendees who are not presenting to register later than this, but such places cannot be guaranteed. Registration for all virtual attendance-only (i.e. not presenting) will be open until the start of the conference.

Further registration details and all other conference information will be provided on the BIOECON website at www.bioecon-network.org.