In September, Prof. Dr. Valentin Klaus, Dr. Simon Mösch and Dr. Jacqueline Hoppenreijs participated in the joint GfÖ-Oikos conference in Odense, Denmark. Together with their colleagues Ellen De Vrieze (Ghent University) and Conny Wagner (University Duisburg-Essen), they travelled north to meet colleagues from all of the Nordic countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and beyond!

The conference, with over 1000 participants and 80 sessions, offered a broad insight into fundamental and applied research on biodiversity, ecosystems and nature-human interactions, in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Simon co-hosted the session “Wild Side of Cities: Exploring Biodiversity, Novel Habitats, and Human–Nature Interactions” and gave a presentation on his ongoing work in the WiMBO project, under the title “Wildlife Stories: Human Perceptions and Wildlife Occurrences in Bochum”. Valentin gave a talk with the title “Cultural ecosystem services of permanent grasslands: Public perception of aesthetic appeal is strongly related to management practices and biodiversity”, based on his papers on grassland multifunctionality and grassland aesthetics. Jacqueline co-hosted a session on the restoration of freshwater ecosystems and gave a talk about a recent preprint with the title “Hydropeaking intensity alters riparian seed bank composition and self-restoration potential” in the session “The Regeneration Niche: From Gametophytes to Established Seedlings”.

Next to the scientific sessions, the conference was a great opportunity to meet up with former colleagues and current collaborators, such as those of the GfÖ Urban Ecology Specialist Group, and to discuss future research directions.