The 7th edition of the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity will be held from November 17-20th 2026 (WCMB 2026) in Bruges, Belgium, hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). The conference has been endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Event.

On 17 December 2024, the call for session proposals has opened. Each session proposal needs to be linked to one of the conference sub-themes. A session may be constructed around a network, project, initiative or a specific, clearly defined scientific topic or question of broad interest within the field of marine biodiversity and in connection with the chosen sub-theme. Sessions can be constructed as presentations only, or a combination of presentations and discussions.

Session proposal details: https://www.wcmb2026.org/call-session
Submission deadline: 31 March 2025
Feedback on submissions: 15 May 2025
Online submission form: https://form.vliz.be/en/WCMB2026_Sessions