Highlights from BEeS 2026: Four days of biodiversity science in Plovdiv

BEeS 2026 Conference

From 7 to 10 July, the biodiversity and ecosystem research community gathered in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for LifeWatch ERIC’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem eScience Conference (BEeS 2026), bringing together 216 registrants from 28 countries (and co-located with LifeWatch ERIC’s General Assembly).

Across four days of scientific exchange, discussions, and hands-on activities, researchers and infrastructure experts explored how digital technologies (including artificial intelligence) have the potential to shape the future of biodiversity and ecosystem research.

As LifeWatch ERIC’s flagship event, each edition of BEeS is hosted by one of its Distributed Centres, and this year the spotlight was on LifeWatch Bulgaria, with the conference taking place at the Agricultural University – Plovdiv (AUP). The event opened with welcoming remarks from AUP Rector Prof. Boryana Ivanova, and Vice-rector Prof. Dimo Atanasov, alongside Prof. Alberto Basset, Interim Director of LifeWatch ERIC’s Service Centre, and Christos Arvanitidis, LifeWatch ERIC’s CEO.

The expertise of the Bulgarian Distributed Centre inspired many of this year’s conference topics, and provided the ideal setting for the official launch of the LifeWatch ERIC’s Thematic Service Working Group on Agroecology. During this pre-conference session on 7 July, the Working Group members worked together to align agroecological priorities and digital services, and to define the future roadmap and action areas of the WG.

The pre-conference programme also included updates from the other Thematic Services Working Groups: an open discussion with coordinators presenting their current activities and exploring future priorities.

From 8 to 10 July, the conference moved into its main scientific programme with 5 keynote sessions from Prof. Tatyana Bileva (Agricultural University Plovdiv), Dr. Dessislava Dimitrova (IBER-BAS), Prof. Carl Beierkuhnlein (University of Bayreuth/Universidad de Granada), Prof. Vladislav Popov (Agricultural University Plovdiv) and Dr. Anne Fouilloux (LifeWatch ERIC). The Key Notes focused on biodiversity conservation, responses to climate change, agroecology, as well as new frontiers for eScience. The speakers bios and summaries of each keynote are available here: https://www.lifewatch.eu/bees-2026-meet-the-speakers.

The contributed programme featured 70 talks distributed over several parallel sessions covering 12 scientific topics (the Book of Abstracts will be published and announced soon!). These contributions showcased the wide breadth and ranges of application of current biodiversity and ecosystem research, from ecological and environmental modelling, to data infrastructures and emerging digital tools. Presentations slides (only those where permission for publication has been granted by the authors) are available online on this page: https://www.lifewatch.eu/bees-2026-presentations.

Beyond the contributed sessions, BEeS 2026 offered opportunities for practical learning and community engagement. Participants joined 6 Masterclasses, 11 Training Sessions, a documentary screening, networking sessions, and the BioBEeS, a citizen science bioblitz dedicated to documenting Bulgaria’s animal, plant and fungal biodiversity. The initiative, launched by LifeWatch Italy, concluded during the conference Social Dinner with the announcement of the two winners: Lorenzo Braga and Sara Strah.

Acting as a platform for international collaboration in biodiversity and ecosystem research, BEeS 2026 has raised many positive comments among participants. One of them, shared in the post-conference feedback read: “This conference demonstrated that to save nature, we must first understand it in detail. Thanks to platforms like LifeWatch ERIC, science now has the digital senses to decipher ecological crises and offer real, timely technological solutions”.

We are already looking forward to the next edition. Until then, stay tuned for updates!

Identify community needs and promote FAIR data exchange for agroecology

  • End of 2027
    • Identify the demand from researchers and living labs for interoperable indicators, reproducible workflows, and decision-support tools that connect biophysical, ecological and socio-economic dimensions.

Strengthen collaboration and impact

  • Permanent activity

    • Coordinate collaboration among Distributed Centres, Living Labs and research communities to support the development of agroecology services within LifeWatch ERIC;

  • End of 2027

    • Improve comparability of research outputs, accelerate adoption of services, and foster co-created solutions for researchers, farmers, advisors and policy makers.

  • Permanent activity

    • Facilitate joint initiatives, project proposals and knowledge exchange to ensure sustained service development and long-term impact.

Support the development of digital agroecology services

  • June 2026

    • Deployment of EDDAn​ data space for Agrifood sector in Andalusia; Adaptation of TITAN workflow platform and related KHAOS tools to serve as a reproducible, trustworthy analysis layer within EDDAn Data Space;

  • September 2026

    • An AGROSERV TransNationalAccess project is currently underway by LifeWatch ERIC and AnaEE ERIC to develop a VREfA (Virtual Research Environment for Agroecology). The project, led by UPO, will support the biophysical analysis of agroecosystems that are transitioning to agroecological management practices.

Advance agroecological research across scales

  • Permanent activity

    • Increase knowledge on ecological processes in agroecosystems, considering both relevant spatial scales and long-term changes.

  • End of 2027

    • Promote the advancement of Landscape Agroecology, exploring new ways of functional integration of different land and livestock uses to increase territorial efficiency and generate landscape mosaics well-endowed with biodiversity and ecosystem services.

  • End of 2027

    • Contribute to the design of agroecological food systems at local and bioregional levels to meet population food demands.

  • End of 2028

    • Research on the contribution of agroecological management to combating climate emergencies, both in terms of mitigation (sequestration) and adaptation to adverse climatic conditions at both farm and landscape level.

Community engagement and application integration

  • March–June 2026​
    • stakeholder mapping and engagement strategy;
    • first open webinar.
  • July 2026–December 2027​
    • workshops, training activities, and industry–academia roundtables;
    • co-development of application-oriented pilot studies.
  • 2028​
    • consolidation of collaborations, cross-infrastructure initiatives, and dissemination of impact- oriented outputs.

Bioinformatics services and infrastructure

  • March–September 2026​
    • assessment of computational needs;
    • deployment of Virtual Machines and Galaxy Instances;
    • integration of workflows for eDNA, DNA metabarcoding, and shotgun metagenomics.
  • October 2026–June 2027​
    • release and optimization of reproducible workflows;
    • scaling of infrastructure;
    • integration of ML/AI tools for biodiversity analyses.

Experimental design and extraction protocols

  • March–June 2026​
    • Kick-off meeting;
    • collection of use cases;
    • mapping of existing experimental designs and nucleic acid extraction protocols.
  • July–December 2026
    • Comparative evaluation of sampling strategies and sequencing approaches;
    • assessment of extraction methods across environmental matrices;
    • drafting of best-practice guidelines.
  • January–April 2027
    • Pilot validation, community feedback, and release of Version 1.0 standardised guidelines.

Integrated Data-to-Model Workflows

  • End of December 2026 – At least 5 workflows for data-model integration developed and published
  • End of February 2027 – At least 5 workflows for policy-relevant outputs developed and published

Environmental Data Mapping

  • End of May 2026 – Core environmental data mapped as a list
  • End of June 2026 – Cross-comparison with existing LifeWatch catalogue done

Cross-Disciplinary Lexicon

  • End of April 2026 – Lexicon of standardised terminology
  • End of May 2026 – Publication submitted

Policy Relevance and Uptake

  • End of May 2026 – Policy-brief to demonstrate the application of habitat-based mapping in supporting EU strategies (e.g., Biodiversity Strategy, Nature Restoration Law).

Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building

  • End of December 2025 – Create a shared repository of guidance documents, tools, templates, and data resources accessible to WG members and broader communities.

Methodological Alignment and Innovation

  • End of January 2026 – Online working table on mapping standards, classification systems, and indicators across members;
  • End of January 2026 – Catalogue of advanced techniques (e.g., remote sensing, GIS modelling, and machine learning) for scalable, habitat-based ecosystem service mapping;
  • End December 2026 – Methodological framework to support methodological innovation through joint development and testing of mapping approaches, especially linking ecosystem service supply and demand.

Mapping Requirements and Gap Analysis

  • End of December 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines Ecosystem services mapping.

Development of VREs for Ecosystem Simulation (2026)

  • Creating virtual models of ecosystems to predict environmental changes;
  • Enhancing conservation strategies through AI-driven simulations.

Data Standardisation & FAIR Principles Implementation (2025/2026)

  • Developing best practices for data curation and sharing;
  • Ensuring that biodiversity data aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) standards.

Collaborative Research & Case Studies (2025/2026)

  • Conducting pilot projects to test new monitoring methods;
  • Publishing scientific and popular science papers and reports on advancements in biodiversity assessment.

Meetings, Webinars, International Conferences & Networking (2025/2026)

  • Organising and participating at discussions on emerging technologies in biodiversity monitoring;
  • Organising webinars on machine learning, eDNA analysis, and automated data collection;
  • Fostering collaboration between researchers, technologists, and decision-makers.

Fund raising

  • End of January 2025 – Establishing a WG Committee on scouting project application opportunities and fundraising.

Organising WG workshops and conferences

  • End of January 2025 – Setting priority research lines and contributions to the BEeS 2025 LifeWatch Conference for the session on the “Ecological responses to climate change”;
  • March/April 2025 (TBD) – Workshop ‘Ecological modelling and eco-informatics to address functional responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate change’ co-organised with the University of Salento;
  • 30 June – 3 July 2025 – Participation to LifeWatch 2025 BEeS Conference on “Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis”.

Implementing services

  • End of January 2025 – Internal distribution of a questionnaire on the most used/relevant model resources in the WG member research activity;
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.

Mapping user requirements

  • End of January 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines addressing ecological responses to climate change;
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.
Bulgaria

The Bulgarian National Distributed Centre is represented by the  Agricultural University-Plovdiv.

To know more about how Bulgaria contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Bulgaria webpage
Spain

The Spanish National Distributed Centre is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority (Ministry for Ecological Transition-MITECO). Moreover, Spain is the hosting Member State of LifeWatch ERIC, the location of its Statutory Seat & ICT e-Infrastructure Technical Office (LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities). 

To know more about how Spain contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Spain webpage
Slovenia

The Slovenian National Distributed Centre is led by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). It focuses on the development of technological solutions in the field of biodiversity and socio-ecosystem research.

To know more about how Slovenia contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Slovenia webpage
Portugal

The Portuguese National Distributed Centre is managed by PORBIOTA, the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity. Led by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, PORBIOTA connects the principal Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity.

To know more about how Portugal contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Portugal webpage
Netherlands

The Dutch National Distributed Centre is hosted by the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. Moreover, The Netherlands hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Virtual Laboratory and Innovation Centre.

To know more about how The Netherlands contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Netherlands webpage
Italy

The Italian National Distributed Centre is led and managed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and is coordinated by a Joint Research Unit, currently comprising 35 members. Moreover, Italy hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Service Centre.

To know more about how Italy contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Italy webpage
Greece

The Greek National Distributed Centre is funded by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology and is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, in conjunction with 47 associated partner institutions.

To know more about how Greece contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Greece webpage
Belgium

The Belgian National Distributed Centre makes varied and complementary in-kind contributions to LifeWatch ERIC. These are implemented in the form of long-lasting projects by various research centres and universities distributed throughout the country and supported by each respective political authority.

To know more about how Belgium contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Belgium webpage