The 14th ICRS 2021 VIRTUAL Meeting (July 19-23), and SCIENCE TO POLICY EVENT (July 20) were huge successes!
14th ICRS 2021 VIRTUAL: This was nothing short of an heroic effort by the Conference Chairman, Prof. Dr. Christian Wild and the Local Organizing Committee in Bremen. Because of COVID-19, the original 14th Symposium, which was planned for 2020 in Bremen, was re-configured to 2021, only to be postponed again to 2022. Not wanting to delay the scientific exchange, particularly at this time when coral reefs badly need scientific advances, the team also put together the 14th ICRS VIRTUAL Symposium, which surpassed all expectations. There were 1100 registrants and 900 presenters, and the Virtual arrangement had 4 simultaneous live streams to cover the event. The pre-recorded talks will be available to all registrants as well, for a year. Given this success, we look forward to the 15th ICRS 2022 IN-PERSON in Bremen, Germany (July 3-8, 2022).
| Local Organizing Committee: | |
| Prof. Dr. Christian Wild | Conference Chairman, University of Bremen |
| Andrea Hess | Bremen Convention Bureau |
| Dr. Simon Jungblut | University of Bremen |
| Inae Kim-Frommherz | University of Bremen |
| Heinz Krimmer | University of Bremen |
| Davina Pick | Bremen Convention Bureau |
ICRS Policy Event: Many put in the hard work and dedication to create and launch of the International Coral Reef Society and Future Earth Coasts Science to Policy Paper 2021 “Rebuilding Coral Reefs: A Decadal Grand Challenge.” The report is a great accomplishment that succinctly lays out the problems and the solutions. The strong positive collaboration on this paper and launch event sends a coherent message to the global community about the need for action to protect and restore coral reefs. Special thanks to Dr. Nancy Knowlton, lead author of the report, to Dr. Sebastian Ferse for leading the vision, to Emily Corcoran for keeping all involved focused and on track. Thanks also to all of the Co-Authors, Advisors, Reviewers, Supporters, Translators, Panelists, Organizers, Web Magicians, Layout Artists, Press Liaisons, and Visionaries.
The online event to launch the report drew 554 registrations, and 244 unique viewers from 49 countries. The report attracted abundant coverage in the media as well. Putting this report and it findings in the minds of the public and policymakers is important, so please distribute the report and its message broadly!
