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

Please join us for ECSA 61: Bridging the gap between science and policy in estuarine and coastal marine biodiversity: the way forward, which will take place from 24-27 August 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

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 (27 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.

General Conference Sessions

Oral and poster abstracts are now invited on the following topics, special sessions and workshops and should be submitted using the online abstract submission system.

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

Special Sessions

Biogeochemistry

• 19 Operationalizing Coastal Wetlands for Negative Emissions: From Mechanisms to Scalable Solutions
• 48 Advancing the integration of monitoring and modelling of the physico-chemical and biogeochemical state of coastal systems

Physics

• 30 Image processing for monitoring and forecasting coastal marine and estuarine pollution 
• 41 Hydrodynamics and Morphodynamics of Storm Surge

Ecology

• 3 Macroecology of Coastal Zone under Human Activities and Global Changes
• 8 Advancing the assessment of data-poor fisheries in estuaries and coastal lagoons
• 9 Bridging Scales and Disciplines: From Microbial Processes to Policy Pathways for Sustainable Estuaries and Coasts
• 13 Multi-risk assessment of climate change and contamination in marine and transitional coastal ecosystems 
• 20 The use of artificial intelligence in coastal environmental monitoring
• 21 Co-development of innovative monitoring approaches and tools for biodiversity and ecosystem assessments in marine environments
• 22 Benthic habitat mapping using novel technologies
• 23 Demonstrating Flood Mitigation in Combination with Nature Restoration
• 24 End-to-End Ecosystem Models to Inform Biodiversity Management under Multiple Pressures
• 25 Decision-Support Tools for Marine Biodiversity Conservation
• 27 Transforming Tidal Wetland Science into Coastal Adaptation Action
• 29 Marine biodiversity and ecosystem services for a sustainable future
• 31 Microbial communities in mangrove ecosystems: from diversity, resilience, and pivotal roles of microbial communities to potential biotechnological applications
• 36 Engineering for ecology: interdisciplinary science to advance living shorelines 
• 39 Healthy estuaries for resilient fisheries: Improving fish critical habitat management in a changing world
• 47 Environmental DNA for coastal and estuarine biodiversity monitoring and assessment: connecting scientific innovation with policy needs

Human dimension

• 4 Improving decision-making accuracy to enhance social-ecological fit for coastal and marine biodiversity
• 10 Unveiling the trouble: tensions and transformations in the governance of coastal and estuarine social-ecological systems
• 12 Gross Ecosystem Product: from sciences toward policy applications
• 14 Caring for coastal scapes
• 16 Integrating Hydrodynamics and Socio-Ecological Vulnerability: A Policy Framework for the Sundarban Delta
• 17 Toolboxes and Decision Support Systems for marine and estuarine management – needs, uses and misuses
• 26 Large-scale development of marine renewable energy: Challenges for marine ecosystems, marine users and marine planning
• 28 Operationalising ecosystem-based management for human multi-uses of the sea
• 32 Guarding marine and estuarine waters from biological invasions: improving prevention, monitoring, management, public engagement and support
• 33 Smart Coasts for a Sustainable Future: Multi-Disciplinary Integration and Innovative Solutions
• 34 Ocean literacy as a bridge to foster effective cooperation between science and policy for the sustainable future of the coastal areas.
• 35 Sustainable use in estuarine and coastal areas of East Asia: approaches from Japan, China and the Republic of Korea
• 37 Valuation methods for marine biodiversity assessments
• 38 Advancing coastal monitoring and forecasting to bridge the gap between coastal science and policy
• 42 Marine and coastal ecosystem services research: recent advances and future opportunities
• 44 Participatory habitat mapping: why, when and how to include public in addressing knowledge gaps?
• 49 Bridging Science and Policy for Bycatch Reduction through Innovative Tools, Gear, and Knowledge-Transfer Frameworks
• 51 Transforming Coasts via Participatory Pathways to Sustainability and Equity - Celebrating Marion Glaser’s Legacy

Workshops

• 11 Beyond borders: Co-developing global priorities for cross-border coastal and estuarine conservation
• 40 Transforming together: learning pathways for sustainable coastal futures - insights from horizon europe case studies and global practice
• 43 eDNA in biodiversity coastal monitoring
• 45 Co-creative workshop on advancing ocean observations through collaboration and integration
• 46 Ocean science diplomacy for estuarine and coastal resilience: strengthening the science–policy interface
• 50 The future of coastal and estuarine biodiversity science-policy: intergenerational perspectives