Bioeconomy Conference Ceases Operation: Seeks New Host Organization
Canada’s largest and longest-running conference on the forest-based bioeconomy is looking for a new presenting organization.
“It has been almost 20 years since our first conference and it’s remarkable that a group of volunteers were able to present such a stellar conference for as long as we did,” says Rob van Adrichem, President of the Society that presents the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition and Chair of its volunteer Board of Directors.
The Society that has presented the conference since 2004 has determined that it is no longer able to produce the conference with a group of volunteers. The conference had been delivered in-person in Prince George every second year until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event just a few months before it was scheduled to be held.
During the pandemic, the Society pivoted online and presented two webinars in 2020, followed by a virtual conference in June 2021. It was the first Canadian Bioeconomy Conference to be delivered online and it set a record for attendance, with 520 registrants from 15 countries. Information about past conferences and webinars will continue to be available online for the remainder of 2023, at www.bioeconomyconference.com
“Many conferences are presented by an industry association or an event management company, but our conference has truly been a labour of love,” says van Adrichem. “It has been a privilege to showcase Prince George and this rapidly evolving bioeconomy sector, which is a critical part of Canada’s low-carbon transition. Thank you to the founders, Board members past and present, the speakers, sponsors, and especially the delegates.”
Organizations interested in presenting future editions of the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference are invited to contact members of the Board (see https://www.bioeconomyconference.com/about/) by September 30, 2023. Proposals will subsequently be considered by the Board.
In the meantime, Scaling Up and the new Forest Innovation and Bioeconomy Conference will be two bioeconomy conferences presented in 2023.
