ECSA 61
Bridging the gap between science and policy in estuarine and coastal marine biodiversity: the way forward

There is an urgent need to address the challenges of the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Marine scientists and policy-makers worldwide have emphasized that in particular threats to biodiversity are the major challenge for both the health of the planet and the welfare of human societies.

These threats are relevant on local to global scales and require international collaborative action. Therefore, in all maritime areas attention is placed on assessing and managing such threats and planning for future initiatives to ensure a sustainable use of estuaries, coasts and seas.

We invite you to participate in ECSA 61 and contribute your recent findings in all aspects of coastal and estuarine sciences. Building on the results of several Horizon Europe projects it is a unique opportunity to show the most recent advances of coastal marine research and their applications for European and international policies.

For this purpose, ECSA 61 brings together a global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and professionals.

For the first time ECSA invites you for a 'Science-meets-Policy' day (24 August 2026), during which you have the chance to discuss research findings and applications for a sustainable future of coasts with managers and decision-makers from Europe and all over the world, and the ways in which these can be used in current monitoring and assessment policies.

Special Sessions

You have the chance to shape the program of this conference. Besides the below-mentioned General Sessions, you can suggest additional Special Sessions. Further information can be found here.

We will open for Special Session proposal submissions on 1 October 2025

General Conference Sessions

The abstract submission system will open on January 2026

Abstract submission deadline: 6 March 2026

Physics

• Coastal hydrodynamics and physical-biological coupling
• Coastal morphodynamics and sediment transport
• Impact of extreme events on coastal systems
• Monitoring and prediction with observation systems and models

Ecology

• Coastal and estuarine biodiversity and ecosystems
• Coastal Ecosystem conservation and restoration, including nature-based solutions
• Connectivity of estuaries, saltmarshes, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs
• Stress responses and resilience: from molecular to ecosystem level

Biogeochemistry

• From Source-to-Sea (S2S): effects of land use change and hydrology regulation
• Carbon and nutrient cycling in benthic and pelagic ecosystems
• Eutrophication, acidification and pollution of coastal ecosystems
• Blue carbon: understanding and quantifying carbon storage in coasts and estuaries

Human Dimension

• Coastal governance and policy
• Socio-economic and socio-ecological systems impacts and adaptation
• Community engagement and stakeholder involvement
• Decision support tools and marine spatial planning
• Science communication, citizen science and ocean literacy