Ecopath 40 Years

Welcome

The “Ecopath 40 years – The Ecosystem Continuum: From knowledge to decisions” conference and workshops will be held in Ostend, Belgium from 3-8 June, 2024. The conference will showcase four decades of progress of using the modelling software 'Ecopath with Ecosim' (EwE) approach in different fields: e.g., fisheries management, marine conservation, ecosystem dynamics, climate impacts, and ecosystem-based management (EBM), as well as introduce new facilities for the approach. The gathering will be an international scientific reunion of ecosystem modelers using the EwE modelling framework and software (www.ecopath.org).

We welcome speakers covering the full ecosystem continuum from knowledge to decisions, though we will especially appreciate contributions that demonstrate progress on making EBM operational. This includes studies/projects that bring ecosystem modelling to the fora where management and policy decisions are made. Fisheries management can be part of that, but the aim is the ecosystem, and with it processes that focus on the spectra of activities that are of importance for management of ecosystems (be they marine, freshwater or terrestrial). It's about ecosystem-based management. 

The conference and courses/workshops will be arranged under the auspices of the Ecopath Research and Development Consortium,  the official cooperative body that oversees the EwE development and cooperation. Find out more

The EwE40 Conference will be hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee, VLIZ) and the European Marine Board, at the InnovOcean campus in Ostend, Belgium. Find out more 

Thanks to two travel grants offered by The Sea as a Good Cause,  two early career scientists from the Global South will be able to join the conference. 

We thank you for your interest.

The EwE40 Years Organizing Committee.

Sheila Heymans & Villy Christensen