The beta release of an innovative collaborative stand-alone authoring tool transforms manuscript preparation with semantic enrichment and real-time collaboration capabilities.
Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft Publishers announces the beta launch of ORPHO, a revolutionary online platform designed to streamline collaborative scientific writing and produce AI-ready, future-proof scholarly literature.
ORPHO presents a significant advancement in scholarly publishing technology, combining intuitive writing features with sophisticated semantic enrichment capabilities. The new platform builds upon Pensoft’s fifteen years of experience as a developer of semantic publishing infrastructure.
Key Features
Within a shared online workspace, researchers can start with built-in customisable templates, create their own or import an existing file. They can then team up with collaborators in real time using track changes, role-based user rights, inline comments, and document-level chat. More significantly, ORPHO automatically structures scientific content according to international publishing standards, making research outputs findable, discoverable, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) once published.
Unlike its predecessor, the ARPHA Writing Tool, ORPHO is available as a standalone real-time collaborative workspace decoupled from journals hosted on Pensoft’s ARPHA Publishing Platform. Once a manuscript is ready, authors receive AI-FAIR machine-readable content that can be formatted to meet multiple journal requirements at the click of a button.
The platform’s adaptability to domain-specific workflows is currently being piloted in biodiversity science. ORPHO integrates seamlessly with leading biodiversity data aggregators, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and PlutoF, via import and export facilities for structured data, making ORPHO particularly valuable for researchers handling taxonomic, ecological and biodiversity data.
ORPHO: A new intelligent workspace for scientific writing.
Why ORPHO?
The name draws inspiration from multiple sources which reflect the tool’s philosophy and heritage. Named after Orphium: a unique plant genus endemic to South Africa whose sole species (Orphium frutescens) is known as the sea rose, ORPHO reflects the platform’s distinctive nature, heritage, and core philosophy.
It also evokes Orpheus, the legendary musician of ancient Thrace whose home region, the Rhodopi Mountains, lies in present-day Bulgaria, where ORPHO’s developer, Pensoft, is headquartered. The name thus honours the tool’s origins whilst embodying the exceptional creative performance it enables.
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Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft, comments:
“We are well aware that researchers today face an overwhelming list of formatting requirements and technical demands in an AI-driven landscape. It is true that rapid technological advancement presents both immense opportunities and mounting complexities for researchers.
We built ORPHO to remove that friction by offering an intuitive, collaborative workspace that lets scientists focus on their research. As a scientific publisher, our mission is to make scholarly publishing a seamless, rewarding experience fit for the modern age.”
The beta release invites researchers, institutions and publishing platforms to trial ORPHO and provide feedback. Access is available at orpho.net.
Every September since 2015, the scholarly publishing world has paused to examine the process that quietly underwrites the integrity of scientific knowledge. This year, Peer Review Week runs from 14 to 18 September, bringing together publishers, societies, funders, libraries and researchers to talk about the often unglamorous but essential job of reviewing each other’s work.
The 2026 theme was chosen by community vote – 2,115 votes in total, the highest participation in Peer Review Week’s history. “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed, and Quality” emerged as the winner, taking 40% of the vote. The result reflects a strain the whole system is experiencing: submissions are rising faster than the pool of willing, qualified reviewers, while authors and funders expect faster decisions than ever. While editors are being asked to hold the line on rigour with the same volunteer hours they always had – or less.
So, to celebrate the essential work that reviewers do, highlight some of the strains the current system is under, and show how we at Pensoftare trying to support our reviewers, we wanted to spotlight our editors-in-chief, the people who see the submission pipeline every single day, by asking them what “capacity” really means to them, and what would need to change for peer review to become more sustainable.
Capacity starts with people
Person working on a laptop. Credit to poungsaed_eco via Envato.
We asked our editors how they would describe “peer review capacity“. Almost every answer was rooted in the same place: people, and whether enough of them are still willing to do the work.
It’s about people – their willingness to give the best scientific thought to review and evaluate a fellow scientist’s work.
Tammy Robinson, Editor-in-Chief of NeoBiota, described the day-to-day challenge of finding those people:
NeoBiota editors try to avoid repeatedly asking the same people to review, but it’s very difficult to get people to accept a review invitation these days.
While for Florian Leese, Editor-in-Chief of Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, the strain of growing submissions without letting quality or turnaround times slip is a daily balancing act he’s refreshingly candid about:
Submissions in MBMG are growing faster than the time I and our editors can give them – and I think it’s worth saying that openly.
Open Laptop Displaying a Blue Network of Data. Credit to GoldenDayz via Envato.
This is precisely the problem Pensoft set out to address earlier this year, when ARPHA – our end-to-end publishing platform – integrated with Prophy, an AI-driven reviewer-discovery tool that matches manuscripts to qualified researchers from a database of millions. Across more than 90 ARPHA-powered journals, editorial teams can now reach well beyond the small circle of familiar names, surfacing reviewers by expertise and research focus rather than by who comes to mind first – directly widening the pool editors like Robinson are struggling to tap.
Freeing up expertise for what matters most
Pensoft designed the ARPHA Publishing Platform to carry every manuscript through review, editing, publication, dissemination and archiving within a single collaborative environment – precisely so that the whole publishing process is made straightforward.
ARPHA homepage
As Leese reflects:
The workflow side is not the problem; ARPHA handles editor assignment, plagiarism checks and the mechanics of the process efficiently, and the Pensoft team is quick to spot where things are piling up and need fixes.
Where he sees the next opportunity is in the technical, time-consuming checks that sit just beneath editorial judgment:
What no workflow tool currently helps with is the part that actually defines quality in our field: are the sequence data and metadata deposited and usable, are the bioinformatic steps reproducible, do the results actually support the conclusions? Those checks take time that has to be carved out of an already full working day, for editors as much as for reviewers.
As numbers rise, the honest answer is that editors will need support – trained data auditors, or validated AI-based tools from the publisher that pre-screen the technical parts – or the model of the volunteer editor/reviewer will not scale. We are not there yet, but we are at the point where that has to be said.
Prof. Benjamin Burkhard, Editor-in-Chief of One Ecosystem adds:
I think that One Ecosystem and ARPHA are providing a very straight-forward authoring, editing and reviewing system. Everything happens directly in the same platform, so no additional documents have to be filled. I also appreciate that the reviewers can (optionally) reveal their identity, which adds a lot of transparency to the whole process and helps to avoid/reduce unconstructive comments.
Making reviewing sustainable
“Recognition” was the word the editors returned to most often when the conversation turned to sustainability, and this is an area in which Pensoft has been investing for a decade and continues to develop.
Person working on a computer. Credit to puhhha via Envato.
Since 2016, ARPHA has been integrated with Publons (now part of Web of Science’s Reviewer Recognition Service), so every review logged through the platform becomes part of a reviewer’s visible professional record rather than disappearing into an inbox.
Hauber shared his vision for sustainability in five years:
A broad reviewer base, with folks at all stages of their academic and industry careers, still willing to review and evaluate peer-workers’ studies.
Robinson sees growth coming from investing in the next generation:
Training courses for early career researchers so that they are upskilled and can be drawn in as skilled reviewers. This will be good for them and the system.
Burkhard notes:
I think the community needs to be strengthen and encouraged to do reviews. If each publishing author would review as many articles as they are submitting, the problem of reviewer fatigue would be solved rather easily. Otherwise we need to think about rewarding system for reviewers, perhaps even offering a small financial incentive.
Leese proposes fewer publications and a bit more visibility for reviewers’ input:
Stop rewarding the number of papers. My proposal: publish less, and treat reviewing as an obligation to the community that scales with your own output. Review roughly twice as many papers as you publish, and make that visible as a metric. ‘Are you paying back?’ should be a question that counts in evaluations.
He also laid out what he sees as the two changes that would help most, and what’s at stake if the field doesn’t act on them:
Two things would help in parallel. First, better recognition or (even monetary) rewards for reviewers, as long as it does not end up inflating article processing charges. Second, and specifically for a data-heavy field like in our journal: the publishing field should take the necessary but tedious checks – data and metadata availability, code, reproducibility – away from reviewers and automate them, so that human expertise is spent where it is really needed: study design, context, whether the data support the claims, and whether something essential is missing that only an expert would notice. Classical peer review is at a turning point. It can be reformed, and I think it should be; the alternative is that it slowly gets replaced by AI-generated reviews that may often not do the job as we had hoped for.
Building toward that future
Past or future sign. Credit to fotodestock via Envato.
Having been around for 34 years, Pensoft treats Peer Review Week as more than a thank-you. Rather, it reflects a continued effort to build a publishing environment that makes reviewing sustainable, from AI-assisted reviewer matching to permanent recognition to the tools that take tedious checks off editors’ plates.
The record turnout in this year’s theme vote shows the community itself has named capacity as the defining challenge of this moment. As we look at insights from editors like Mark Hauber, Tammy Robinson, Florian Leese and Benjamin Burkhard, the message is clear:the field can only be sustainable if reviewing is treated as seriously as publishing.
Pensoft attended the 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026) in Brest, France, where it presented a selection of EU-funded projects and scientific journals.
From 24 to 28 August 2026, Pensoft joined around 600 researchers and professionals at the 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026) in Brest, France, bringing together the ecological restoration community to share knowledge, strengthen collaborations and explore new approaches to restoring ecosystems across Europe.
Hosted by the University of Brest in collaboration with the French Ecological Restoration Network (REVER) and the European Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER-Europe), SERE2026 provided a vibrant meeting point for researchers, practitioners and policymakers working across ecological restoration. The conference covered a broad range of topics, including wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, ecological networks and the implementation of European restoration policies.
Pensoft was there with a selection of EU-funded projects and open-access journals, offering conference participants the chance to discover new research, explore project results and learn more about opportunities to publish and share their work.
Pensoft at SERE 2026.
A showcase of Pensoft projects
The Pensoft team presented materials from a diverse group of EU-funded projects, reflecting the wide range of environmental research and collaboration supported through the Pensoft network.
The projects cover a broad spectrum of topics, from biodiversity and ecosystem restoration to forest resilience, environmental governance, ecosystem monitoring and nature conservation. Their presence at SERE2026 offered researchers an opportunity to discover ongoing initiatives and see how scientific knowledge is being translated into practical approaches for addressing environmental challenges.
The project materials attracted interest throughout the conference, with participants stopping by to learn more about individual initiatives and explore their latest activities and results.
From ecological restoration to open-access publishing
Alongside the projects, Pensoft presented a selection of its journals and publishing platforms.
The broad selection reflected the interdisciplinary nature of ecological restoration itself. Researchers working on biodiversity, ecosystems, conservation, environmental modelling, species diversity and regeneration could all find publication venues relevant to their work.
There was considerable interest in the journals throughout the conference, with discussions ranging from publishing research articles and project outputs to discovering new ways of sharing scientific data, ideas and results with the wider research community.
Celebrating excellent science
Scientific exchange was at the heart of SERE2026, and participants also had the opportunity to recognise some of the strongest contributions presented during the conference.
Several awards were presented based on votes from conference participants, highlighting outstanding talks and presentations.
Pensoft was pleased to contribute to these celebrations with the Best Talk Award. The award recognises an exceptional conference presentation and comes with a special prize: a free publication in a Pensoft journal.
This time around, the award went to Chloé Dagnelie of Gembloux AgrobioTech for her presentation: “Spontaneous succession under soil and landscape constraints: dispersal filtering and urban species pools shape brownfield true bugs communities”
By supporting awards such as this, Pensoft aims to encourage clear, engaging and impactful scientific communication while helping researchers share their work through open-access publishing.
Connecting research, restoration and communication
SERE2026 offered an inspiring setting for conversations about the future of ecological restoration and the role of research in supporting healthier and more resilient ecosystems.
For Pensoft, the conference was also an opportunity to bring together several strands of its work: supporting EU-funded research projects, publishing scientific knowledge through open-access journals and creating opportunities for researchers to connect, communicate and collaborate.
The strong interest in both the projects and journals showcased in Brest was a reminder of the value of bringing science and scientific communication together in one place.
As Europe moves towards ambitious restoration goals, strengthening the connections between research, practice, policy and communication will be essential. Events such as SERE2026 provide an important space for these connections to grow.
Pensoft was delighted to be part of the ecological restoration community in Brest and looks forward to continuing these conversations at future events.
Between 26-31 July, Pensoft Publishers joined more than 2,600 ecologists, researchers, and conservation professionals in Salt Lake City for the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA2026).
Pensoft Publishers joined more than 2,600 ecologists, researchers, and conservation professionals in Salt Lake City for the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA2026) between 26-31 July.
This year’s conference theme, “Ecology in an Era of Uncertainty,” could not have felt more timely. Uncertainty is nothing new to ecological research – it’s built into measurements, mechanisms, and predictions.
But new sources of uncertainty are now reshaping the field: the rise of artificial intelligence, post-pandemic shifts in career development, and growing instability in research funding. Throughout the week, the ESA community came together not only to share cutting-edge ecological research, but also to think collectively about how to navigate these emerging challenges – trading multidisciplinary, creative solutions to keep the field resilient in the face of what’s next.
The Opening Session
The Grand Ballroom was packed for the opening session, where Conference Chairs Daniel Stover and Andrea Swei welcomed attendees. Despite a challenging year for funding and travel, the 111th annual meeting of ESA 2026 hosted 2,600 registered attendees 330 sessions and 884 posters,
The opening address was delivered by Diane Pitaki, Chief Scientist and Vice President for Science at the National Wildlife Federation, who spoke about ecology standing at a crossroads amid the biodiversity crisis and shifting political headwinds, urging the community to actively “defend conservation science.”
Among the meeting’s standout moments was the plenary from Tanya Berger-Wolf, Professor of Computer Science and Ecology at Ohio State University and a leading figure in AI for ecology and biodiversity.
Notably, Berger-Wolf will be a keynote speaker at TDWG 2026 in Oslo (20-25 September) – where Pensoft Publisherswill once again be exhibiting, so stay tuned for future updates.
Situated right at the entrance of the exhibition hall, Pensoft’s booth revelled in attention from attendees throughout the week.
Pensoft’s team at ESA 2026 in Salt Palace Convention Center.
Pensoft’s busy stand at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
Pensoft’s busy stand at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
The beautiful Denitsa Peneva’s illustrations at ESA 2026.
A particular highlight was our trio of diamond open-access journals – free to publish in and free to read – that drew considerable interest from attendees:
Individual-Based Ecology promotes a distinctive individual-based perspective on ecology, aiming to bridge individual behaviour and broader ecological patterns.
Advances in Pollinator Research is designed as an innovative platform for the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology and pollinator-plant interactions to molecular ecology, conservation, and more.
Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (AEM), meanwhile, offers an innovative approach to publishing, dedicated to advancing both the science and practice of modelling across agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and environmental sciences.
Brochure of the diamond open-access Individual Based Ecology Journal.
Close up photo of the Advances in Pollinator Research brochure at ESA 2026.
Nicole Nogoy, managing editor of Agricultural and Environmental Modelling at ESA 2026.
Attendees curious about AEM had the chance to speak directly with its Managing Editor, Nicole Nogoy, who was on site throughout the conference to discuss publishing opportunities and promote the journal’s search for Subject Editors.
We also introduced attendees to our newest addition, the diamond open-accessJournal of Regeneration. For those interested in sharing early-stage research or project outcomes, Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) offered another avenue worth exploring, publishing everything from project proposals and data to policy briefs and null results.
Those looking for a new publisher or white-label solutions had the opportunity to exploreARPHA, Pensoft’s own publishing platform, which supports the full journey from manuscript writing and peer review to publication, dissemination, and archiving – all in one seamless workflow.
Combined brochure of EU-Funded project in which Pensoft participates.
Beyond the journals and publishing solutions, the team took the opportunity to spotlight some of Pensoft’s ongoing EU-funded projects, including our pollination initiatives and our continued work with eLTER.
This time around, our team created “Pensoft Species Quiz,” challenging booth visitors to identify the correct Latin name for a series of species beautifully illustrated by Denitsa Peneva. Being more than just a fun activity, it became a natural conversation starter – leading into deeper discussions about Pensoft’s journals, services, and potential collaborations with attendees.
Some of the winners from our quiz at ESA 2026.
Some of the winners from our quiz at ESA 2026.
Happy winners from our interactive quiz game at ESA 2026.
Attendees interacting with our fun quiz.
The Agricultural and Environmental Modelling Poster Award
AEM’s Managing Editor – Nicole Nogoy ran a poster competition at the meeting, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our week. Three researchers stood out:
Julian Resasco (University of Colorado, Boulder) took home the prize for overall best presentation with a hand-drawn comic-book poster on climate change effects on Basque country thistles;
Gwendolyn Lloyd (Indiana University) impressed us with her research on arthropods and mites in agricultural soils;
Emily Redding (Fort Hays State University, KS) joined in with a poster on fire suppression’s effects on Juniper-dependent bird species, having been inspired to bring modelling into her own research.
We also took part in a raffle organised by ESA, to which each exhibitor contributed a prize.
Kanchana Balasubramanian one of the winners of Pensoft Publishers’ raffle prizes at ESA2026.
Elizabeth Afkhami Searcy received our book “Mapping Ecosystem Services” as part of the Ecological Society of America’s conference raffle.
ESA2026 was a strong reminder of just how much energy – and uncertainty – is currently shaping the ecology community. Between thought-provoking plenaries on AI and conservation science, engaging conversations sparked by our species quiz, and the enthusiasm we saw around the AEM poster competition, it was a week full of meaningful connections for Pensoft.
We’re already looking forward to the next time, and we hope you’re looking forward to it, too!
As a longstanding supporter of vegetation science publishing, and publisher of Vegetation Classification and Survey, Pensoft was proud to sponsor EGC 2026 and attend throughout the week.
From 19 to 23 July 2026, Sofia hosted the 21st Eurasian Grassland Conference (EGC 2026), organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG), a working group of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS). EDGG is dedicated to research on, and the conservation of, natural and semi-natural grasslands across the Palaearctic biogeographic realm, spanning any taxonomic group, whether plants and vegetation, animals or fungi.
This year’s conference was held under the theme “Connecting science and conservation for grassland sustainability”, with the aim of highlighting how research into grassland ecosystems connects with management practices and conservation goals on the ground.
Grasslands, particularly species-rich semi-natural grasslands and Eurasian steppes, are among the most threatened habitat types in one of the most heavily urbanised and intensively managed regions in the world, despite providing a wide range of ecosystem services. Bringing scientific knowledge together with conservation practice was therefore a central thread running through the week.
The conference was hosted by the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (IBER) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. IBER conducts research across fundamental and applied ecology, biodiversity, nature conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources. The institute also provides scientific and methodological support to state institutions and NGOs, making it a fitting host for a conference concerned with the practical application of grassland science.
As a longstanding supporter of vegetation science publishing, and publisher of Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS), one of IAVS’s official journals, Pensoft was proud to sponsor EGC 2026 and attend with an information stand throughout the week.
Pensoft’s stand at the 21st Eurasian Grassland Conference.
A gathering of the grassland community
EGC 2026 brought together around 60 participants, from early-career researchers to established names in vegetation science. Among the attendees were several members of the editorial board of VCS, including Editors-in-Chief Idoia Biurrun and Jürgen Dengler, as well as members of the IAVS council:
We were also delighted to catch up with authors who have published with us across several of our journals, including Biodiversity Data Journal (Naim Berisha), PhytoKeys (Marcin Nobel) and VCS(Arkadiusz Nowak).
Naim Berisha, an author in BDJ, at Pensoft’s stand at EGC 2026.
Marcin Nobis, a subject editors for PhytoKeys, at Pensoft’s stand at EGC 2026.
Arkadiusz Nowak, an author and editorial board member for VCS, at Pensoft’s stand at EGC 2026.
Our stand attracted a steady flow of visitors over the course of the week:
Conference participants visiting Pensoft’s stand at the 21st Eurasian Grassland Conference.
Pensoft’s journal portfolio in vegetation science.
Throughout the event, we shared our vegetation science portfolio, including VCSand Vegetation, Ecology and Diversity (VED), with strong additional interest in our following open-access journals:
Biodiversity Data Journal (BDJ) – a community peer-reviewed journal, designed to accelerate publishing, dissemination and sharing of biodiversity-related data of any kind.
MycoKeys– dedicated to the taxonomy, phylogeny, biogeography, evolution and ecology of the fungal kingdom, including lichens, and publishing everything from new species descriptions to checklists, monographs and methodology papers.
Nature Conservation – a rapid, peer-reviewed journal spanning all aspects of nature conservation, from populations to whole ecosystems, and from microorganisms and fungi to higher plants and animals.
A new special feature on the way
We were pleased to learn, just ahead of the conference, of a forthcoming VCS special feature tied to the event: “Vegetation of the Balkan Peninsula”, edited by Jürgen Dengler, Erwin Bergmeier and Urban Šilc.
The special feature welcomes contributions on any vegetation type from the Balkan Peninsula, including syntaxon revisions at national or supranational level, regional vegetation monographs, synthetic overviews of a country’s or region’s syntaxa, nomenclatural proposals, habitat typologies and applications, and long and short database reports.
VCS offers Gold Open Access publishing, holds a Journal Impact Factor of 2.7, and provides reduced article processing charges for IAVS members, with the option of complete waivers. Further details on the special feature will be announced soon on the VegSciBlog and across Vegetation Classification and Survey’s channels.
Scientific highlights
The five-day scientific programme was organised around five sessions: patterns, classification and biogeography of Palaearctic grasslands; grasslands of the Balkan Peninsula; animals in Palaearctic grasslands; innovative methods, experimental approaches and open science in grassland research; and global change, conservation, restoration and management of Palaearctic grasslands.
Participants at the 21st Eurasian Grassland Conference.
Jürgen Dengler – Global change in European grasslands: insights from local to continental studies.
Anna Kuzemko – Impact ofmilitary actions on the steppe ecosystems of Ukraine.
One of the highlights of the week was our own Head of Journal Development and PR, Iva Boyadzhieva, presenting on how Pensoft supports FAIR publishing for biodiversity and conservation research. Her talk set out how, as biodiversity and sustainability research gains momentum through greater international and interdisciplinary collaboration and the pressures of an unfolding environmental crisis, bridging scientific knowledge and conservation practice has become ever more critical.
Iva Boyadzhieva presenting – “At the forefront of FAIR publishing for biodiversity and conservation research”.
We also enjoyed Editor-in-Chief of VCS Jürgen Dengler’s talk on global change in European grasslands, which drew on regional resurveys of historic vegetation plots, combined analyses of multiple resurvey datasets, and decades of plot data from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA).
Anna Kuzemko’s talk on the impact of military actions on the steppe ecosystems of Ukraine was another highlight of the week. Her research offered a valuable basis for prioritising and planning the restoration of Ukraine’s damaged steppe habitats going forward.
Anna Kuzemko – Impact of military actions on the steppe ecosystems of Ukraine.
Awards
Pensoft also sponsored a best presentation and poster competition at the conference. Best Presentation was awarded to Sara Nigro for her talk “Climate and management changes drive semi-natural grassland community assembly over twenty years”, based on the resurvey of 49 vegetation plots in central Italy over two decades, revealing how climatic warming and shifting management practices are reshaping mountain semi-natural grasslands.
Best Poster went to Nadiia Skobel for “Drivers of vascular plant diversity in cultural heritage sites: a case study of old cemeteries (southern Ukraine)”, which showcased how old cemeteries in the grass steppe zone of southern Ukraine act as important refuges for native and steppe specific flora amid widespread habitat loss elsewhere in the region.
Looking ahead
EGC 2026 offered a valuable opportunity to connect with the authors, editors and researchers who make up the vegetation science community, and to see first hand how grassland research is being put to work for conservation across the Palaearctic. The next Eurasian Grassland Conference will take place in 2027 in Dilijan, Armenia – stay tuned for further updates!
Closing ceremony of the 21st EurasianGrassland Conference.
Pensoft has been awarded the Seal of Recognition for the FAO AGRIS Active Data Provider of the Year for 2027. The seal is granted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations through its AGRIS initiative, and it recognises institutions that consistently share open-access agricultural research with the global community.
Notably, Pensoft joined the FAO AGRIS network back in 2024, and the organisation has renewed our seal every year since, a recognition we’re proud to have kept.
What has changed is the scale of our contribution. In 2024, Pensoft’s records on AGRIS numbered just under 15,000. Today, that figure has doubled to nearly 30,000, drawn from all 51 of our journals that fall within the scope of FAO AGRIS. The subjects covered are wide-ranging, spanning taxonomy, biodiversity, conservation and biogeography – these are all areas that feed directly into sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.
Through AGRIS, this research travels well beyond our own journals to researchers, policymakers and practitioners worldwide, adding to the shared pool of open knowledge that supports global food security and environmental sustainability. We’re glad to keep contributing to that effort, and look forward to continuing our work with FAO AGRIS in the years to come.
About FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all, ensuring that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 194 members, 193 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
About Pensoft
Founded in 1992 “by scientists, for scientists,” Pensoft is an academic open-access publishing company well known worldwide for its cutting-edge publishing tools, workflows and methods for text and data publishing of journals, books and conference materials. In 2010, Pensoft became the first scientific publisher to introduce semantic enrichments in scholarly publications. Through its Research and Technical Development department, the company is involved in a range of research and technology projects.
Between 6-10 July, more than 850 participants from 25 countries gathered in Leiden, the Netherlands, for the 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) 2026.
The congress was organised by the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) and hosted at Leiden University (FWN/CML), in partnership with Hortus botanicus, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and NIOO-KNAW, with support from the Leiden Biodiversity Network.
Opening ceremony of ECCB 2026
Head of PR and Journal Development representing Pensoft at ECCB 2026.
Exhibitor and poster hall at ECCB 2026.
Effective Biodiversity Conservation
Under the theme “Effective Biodiversity Conservation,” the congress brought together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore how biodiversity can be safeguarded over the long term. Its core message was that effective conservation cannot rest on the efforts of conservationists alone. It requires coordinated, multidisciplinary, science-based action across society.
Opening ceremony of ECCB 2026.
Prof. Dr. Geert de Snoo and his “1% of GDP for safeguarding nature!” presentation
Dr. Laura Bosco, President of SCB Europe, opened the congress and set the scene for the week ahead. Prof. Dr. Geert de Snoo, one of the congress’s co-organisers, followed with the presentation: “1% of GDP for safeguarding nature!” – a call to set aside 1% of global GDP to help close the biodiversity funding gap, given that half of the world’s GDP depends on natural ecosystem services, and to protect 30% of the Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
From there, the programme ran packed with symposia, roundtables, and workshops covering policymaking and effectiveness, conservation planning, new methods for measuring and quantifying biodiversity, eDNA for conservation, citizen science, and remote sensing, alongside a poster session held each day.
Pensoft at he 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) 2026.
Our stand stood out with professionally designed booth walls and enjoyed a strong flow of visitors throughout the congress. Delegates met Pensoft’s Head of Journal Development and PR, Iva Boyadzhieva, who answered questions about publishing opportunities and scholarly resources, including Advanced Books, Pensoft’s platform for publishing open-access monographs, edited volumes, and other book-length scholarly works.
People spinning Pensoft’s Fortune Wheel to win prizes.
People signing up to Pensoft’s newsletter and spinning the wheel.
For the first time, our booth also ran an interactive game, where visitors could spin a wheel to win some prizes. The game rules were simple: visitors filled out a subscription form for one or more journals, spun a wheel featuring the names of journals relevant to the congress, and won a sticker matching the journal they landed on.
Visitor at Pensoft’s booth at the 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology, interacting with the wheel.
Curiously, the illustrations on the vivid stickers are not coincidental: each features a scientific illustration by Denitsa Peneva of a species discussed in a publication from across Pensoft’s scholarly portfolio – a nod to the authors who chose one of our journals to share their research.
Individual-Based Ecology and Agricultural and Environmental Modelling on focus at ECCB 2026.
A particular highlight was our trio of diamond open-access journals, free to publish in and free to read, that drew considerable interest from attendees:
Individual-Based Ecologypromotes a distinctive individual-based perspective on ecology, aiming to bridge individual behaviour and broader ecological patterns.
Advances in Pollinator Research covers the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology to conservation, designed as an innovative platform for the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology and pollinator-plant interactions to molecular ecology, conservation and more.
Agricultural and Environmental Modelling, meanwhile, offers an innovative approach to publishing, dedicated to advancing both the science and practice of modelling across Agriculture, Food Systems, Natural Resources, and Environmental Sciences.
Familiar faces at the stand
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nature Conservation, Dr. Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth, at Pensoft’s booth at ECCB 2026.
Prof. Davy McCracken, Subject Editor at Nature Conservation.
Dr. Niels Raes, project coordinator of Biodiversity Meets Data at ECCB 2026.
Martina Viti and Annika Zuleger, authors that have published across Pensoft’s journal at ECCB 2026.
Our booth was visited by Nature Conservation’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth. Earlier that week, she also co-organised a symposium, “How can Wildlife Detection Dogs contribute to effective biodiversity conservation in Europe?” As well as one of Nature Conservation’s Subject Editor, Prof. Davy McCracken and Dr. Niels Raes, the project coordinator of Biodiversity Meets Data.
We also met one of our authors, Andra Neagu, in person. We recently ran a PR campaign on her and her team’s research analysing more than 1,100 media reports from 2007 to 2024 to uncover patterns in wildlife poaching across Romania, which you can read here.
Andra Neagu, an author at Nature Conservation at Pensoft’s booth at ECCB 2026.
Andra Neagu next to her scientific poster at ECCB 2026.
Looking ahead
Closing ceremony of ECCB 2026.
Closing ceremony of ECCB 2026.
It was a pleasure to be part of ECCB 2026 and to connect with so many researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working toward effective biodiversity conservation.
Save the date: SCB’s 33rd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2027) will be held in Puebla, Mexico, at the end of June or beginning of July 2027.
Between 14-19 June, the 4th World Biodiversity Forum (WBF) brought together ~1,100 participants from 70 countries in Davos, Switzerland. This highly regarded event was held under the theme “Leading Transformation Together,” and united science, arts, society, and business across generations and fields to build the leadership and networks essential for effective biodiversity protection and resilience.
The event spanned 10 thematic tracks, covering topics such as biodiversity-ecosystem functioning, legislation and biodiversity, connecting science, society and practice, and many more.
The opening ceremony at the 4th World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, 2026.
Pensoft had the largest exhibition stand at the forum, and throughout the week it saw a steady flow of attendees interested in the company’s work across EU-funded projects and scholarly publishing, with dissemination materials for both on display.
Pensoft’s stand at the World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
At the heart of Pensoft’s presence at the forum were four EU Horizon-funded projects working to turn biodiversity science into action on policy: BioAgora, OBSGESSION, B-Cubed, and OneStop.
As an active consortium partner in each, Pensoft draws on decades of experience in science communication, stakeholder engagement, and data management to help move that work forward. The stand also featured two further policy-oriented projects, CO-OP4CBD and RESPIN,
Attendees also had the chance to learn more about the ARPHA Platform, Pensoft’s self-developed end-to-end publishing solution that streamlines the entire editorial workflow – from manuscript submission and peer review through to editing, publication, and archiving – ultimately making research easy for both people and machines to access, cite, and reuse.
Brochures for Pensoft’s journals featuring the beautiful illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Attendees were able to speak directly with members of the Pensoft team, who were on hand to walk them through the journals’ scope, submission processes, and the broader vision behind the diamond open-access model – publishing that is free for both authors and readers.
Journals and brochures published by Pensoft featuring illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Desislava Raykova presenting at WBF 2026.
The presentation explored how a shared narrative can drive collaboration and increase impact among policy-oriented projects working at the science-policy interface, showing how such efforts can be brought to life through policy briefs, illustrations, and interactive science-policy events. The talk drew on communication successes from B-Cubed, OBSGESSION, OneStop, BioAgora, RESPIN and CO-OP4CBD.
This year’s forum offered an opportunity to forge strong networks across policy, science, arts, and business – catalysing future action and, in doing so, to leading transformation together. The next World Biodiversity Forum will be in 2028, so stay tuned to learn more from us!
The accumulation of leaf litter from this invasive alien plants facilitates the development of the larvae of the common mosquito, a species of ecological and public health concern.
Guest blog post by Alberto Maceda-Veiga and Rosa Martínez
Reed, an invasive alien plant that is abundant on the banks of many rivers, ponds and canals, can encourage the growth of common mosquito populations in the absence of natural predators. When the plant’s litter accumulates, the chemical properties of the water and the composition of the biological communities in the environment change radically, and this facilitates the development of mosquito larvae in freshwater ecosystems.
This is one of the conclusions of a study published in the journal NeoBiota and led by Professor Alberto Maceda-Veiga, a member of the FORESTREAM Research Group at the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) at the University of Barcelona.
The study, whose lead author is Oriol Cano-Rocabayera, involved collaboration from experts at the Institute for Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA-UAB), the Mosquito Control Service (SCM) of El Baix Llobregat Regional Council, the University of Seville, the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), the Goethe University (Frankfurt, Germany), the University of Florida (United States) and the universities of Cardiff and Chester (United Kingdom).
More mosquitoes if the invasive reed is present
Schematic food web of the trophic cascade resulting from leaf litter decomposition and the interaction between microeukaryotes and mosquito larvae. Microeukaryotes can be prey, trophic competitors, and parasites and potentially alter the internal microbiota of mosquito larvae through changes in waterborne bacteria and fungi. Represented microeukaryotes are testate amoeba, a. Naked amoeba; b. Euglenid flagellate; c. Bodonid flagellate; d. Planktonic ciliate, e; crawling ciliates; f. Sessile ciliate; g. and micrometazoa (small metazoa): nematoda, h. and oligochaeta, i. Credit to Cano-Rocabayera et al., 2026.
The ecological impacts of invasive riparian plants at the ecosystem level are not yet fully understood, beyond their impact on specific groups of organisms or on environmental conditions. In addition to altering biodiversity and the composition of the natural environment, exotic and invasive riparian vegetation can affect human well-being.
In the study, the team used experimental aquariums (microcosms) to analyse the ecological impact of replacing native common reed (Phragmites australis) with giant reed (Arundo donax), a species classified as invasive and similar in appearance.
In the presence of A. donax, the mosquito larvae survived longer and grew larger and faster. Behind this increase lies the proportion of A. donax leaf litter, which altered the water’s physicochemical properties and the composition of populations of organisms known as microeukaryotes — protozoa, fungi and other microscopic organisms – which are essential to the functioning of the ecosystem.
The study highlights a dramatic ecological effect, even at low concentrations of A. donax compared with P. australis. “This effect was catalysed by changes in water quality and in the abundance of certain groups of microeukaryotes, such as flagellates and amoebae, which form part of the microbial food webs on which the larvae of the common mosquito Culex pipiens feed,” says Professor Alberto Maceda-Veiga, from the UB’s Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
“It is important to remember — he continues — that the common mosquito can act as a vector for diseases of medical and veterinary significance. Identifying which plants encourage the proliferation of mosquitoes helps us to understand the complex relationships that species form in nature and, in turn, helps pest control services to predict where they are most likely to find larvae and to apply control measures, where necessary, due to the risk to human health.”
Improving environmental management along river courses
The giant reed, an exotic and invasive plant, is capable of altering the ecological balance in the natural environment. Photo credit to Alberto Maceda-Veiga.
The reed, which can withstand high summer temperatures, typically produces a large amount of biomass and is even being used to generate alternative energy sources. Interestingly, in previous studies, the team had described the potential positive effects of the species, as it provides shelter and protection for native fish in rivers with typically poor coverage of riparian vegetation (Science of The Total Environment, 2025).
Now, the findings of this study shed light on an unexpected aspect of the ecological impact of this invasive plant in riparian areas.
In freshwater ecosystems most severely affected by chemical pollution, the natural aquatic predators of the larvae – such as fish and dragonflies – are often absent. Many larvae mean many adult mosquitoes, which can cause nuisance to humans and even pose health risks.
In light of these new findings, the authors suggest prioritizing the initial eradication of A. donax in infested areas and restoring these sites with native vegetation such as P. australis, as well as encouraging future studies to determine the breeding preferences of mosquitoes in these habitats and their interactions with their natural predators.
When the eradication of an invasive species is not feasible, we turn to mitigation measures to reduce its impact. In the case of mosquitoes, we must not give in to alarmism. Firstly, we must remember that in nature, mosquitoes have many predators, as they are a natural part of food webs. Secondly, we have some fantastic mosquito control services, such as the Baix Llobregat SCM participating in this study, which ensure that mosquitoes do not become a problem in areas with high human traffic, such as cities and the marshes of peri-urban environments.
concludes Maceda-Veiga
Original source:
Cano-Rocabayera O, Bonilla YY, Salvadó H, Garcia-Bargalló M, Sobhy IS, Berry C, Vilà M, Sabater F, Aranda C, Maceda-Veiga A (2026) Invasive plant-induced shifts in water chemistry and microeukaryotes enhance mosquito development. NeoBiota 106: 265-286. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.106.167149
Once again, Pensoft joined the ESP conference as an open-access scholarly publisher, publishing services provider, and a partner at Horizon Europe consortia.
Conference Organising Committee’s Davina Vačkářová thanks the ESP2026EU’s sponsors, exhibitors and partners. Photo courtesy of the ESP.
From 18 to 22 May 2026, the historic city of Prague, Czechia, hosted the 6th European Conference of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). Set against a backdrop of global turning points, such as biodiversity declines and climate uncertainty, the event served as an important forum for discussing how ecosystem services can cultivate a sustainable and equitable future.
This year’s ESP European conference ran under the theme “Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature- and people-positive Europe.” Photo courtesy of the ESP.
The conference ran under the theme, “Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature- and people-positive Europe.” Attendees focused on how to translate major policy frameworks, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the new Nature Restoration Law, into inclusive and effective action that respects both nature and healthy ecosystems. A major talking point at the event was also the new path ahead of the ESP as it officially becomes an independent international community later in 2026. An election of a new Steering and Executive Committee has already been scheduled for October 2026.
For Pensoft, the ESP 2026 European conference was not only a wonderful occasion to meet once again many long-time partners and friends, including the ESP team itself; editors and loyal authors of our journals; and members of the international project consortia, where we are involved, but also an exciting opportunity to talk with new members of the ESP community and learn about the needs, interests and passions of a new generation of researchers in a rapidly changing scientific field.
Pensoft’s stand at the ESP 2026 Europe conference in Prague, Czechia.
As an open-science publisher well embedded in environmental research through its dozens of journals covering ecology, biodiversity conservation and other related fields, Pensoft Publishers also actively participated in the week’s dialogues, contributing unique perspectives on scientific communication.
The Karolinum: the seat of Prague’s Charles University hosted the pre-conference training sessions, the Opening ceremony and the Welcome reception on Monday. Photo courtesy of the ESP.
The sixth European installment of the conference kicked off on Monday, 18 May, at the Karolinum, the historic seat of Charles University. The energy of a dynamic, highly engaging week was set perfectly by a lavish evening ceremony filled with speeches from renowned local figures, traditional music, and cultural performances. Yet, long before the opening notes played, the Karolinum was already buzzing, having hosted a full slate of pre-conference training sessions throughout the day.
A get-together for the editors and loyal authors of the open-access peer-reviewed One Ecosystem – the Ecology and Sustainability Data Journal took place on Monday at the Karolinum (Prague, Czechia).
Just ahead of the opening ceremony, our team at Pensoft hosted a semi-formal get-together for the editors and loyal authors of the open-access peer-reviewed One Ecosystem – the Ecology and Sustainability Data Journal. This year, the scholarly outlet, launched in collaboration between Pensoft, the ESP and the ESMERALDA Horizon 2020 project, now succeeded by the Horizon Europe-funded project SELINA, celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Chaired by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard and Pensoft’s Head of Journal Development and PR Iva Boyadzhieva, the meeting recapped the best moments from One Ecosystem’s first decade and inspired discussions and ideas for the journal’s future. They also referred to the recently published editorial titled “Ten years of innovation and the way ahead in scientific publishing in One Ecosystem”. The piece reflects on the journal’s journey since its 2016 launch and addresses modern challenges in academic publishing, such as reviewer fatigue and the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Over the last ten years, One Ecosystem has established itself as a unique journal in the field, thanks to its commitment to openly sharing the research data underpinning each publication. It also offers a versatile range of article types. These include traditional formats (e.g. Research Article, Review Article, Data Paper), innovative options (e.g. Software Description, R Package, Single-media Publication), as well as ones specifically devised for the community, such as Ecosystem Inventory, Ecosystem Service Mapping and Ecosystem Accounting Table.
So far, the journal has published over 200 papers authored by scientists from all continents, accumulating more than 1,500,000 views, 600 citations, and 6,000 online mentions. Today, the journal’s editorial board comprises 50 experts representing diverse geographies and professional fields. One Ecosystem is indexed in over 60 relevant scholarly databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, and holds a Q1 ranking on Scopus. Authors also benefit from a swift turnaround time, with an average of just 2.5 months from submission to acceptance, and articles typically published within three months of submission.
Keynote speeches at the first conference day were delivered by Jakub Kronenberg (University of Lodz), Alessandra La Notte (Senior consultant on natural capital accounting) and Ben Delbaere (LIFE Programme).
On Tuesday, the main schedule opened with inspiring keynote speeches, with Jakub Kronenberg (University of Lodz) examining the transition towards relational values of nature, Alessandra La Notte (Senior consultant on natural capital accounting) sharing two decades of insights into natural capital accounting, and Ben Delbaere (LIFE Programme at ELMEN EEIG) demonstrating how the European LIFE Programme supports a nature- and people-positive society.
Later in the day on Tuesday, Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva, Head of Journal Development and PR, gave a talk on the topic of scholarly communication as part of a session organised and hosted by the Early Career Researchers (ECR) division of the ESP: Young Ecosystem Services Partnership (YESS) and focused on building practical skills and fostering careers for young researchers.
Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva gave a talk titled “Scholarly Communication: Lessons from the publisher’s kitchen” as part of the YESS session “The Early Career Lab: Skills, Identity, and Growth for the Next Generation of Ecosystem Services Researchers”.
Boyadzhieva shared insights into how authors and publishers can work collaboratively to transform scholarly publications into scientific knowledge that is accessible to everyone, everywhere, regardless of professional background or expertise, by drawing on real-life examples and automated publication processes.
One Ecosystem’s Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard.
One Ecosystem’s Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard at the ESP session “The Changing Landscape of Academic Publishing on Ecosystem Services Research: Editors’ Perspectives.”
The One Ecosystem journal took center stage once again on Friday afternoon during a panel session titled, “The Changing Landscape of Academic Publishing on Ecosystem Services Research: Editors’ Perspectives.” The event brought together the Editors-in-Chief of the three ESP-associated journals for an engaging open discussion about the shifting dynamics of scientific literature. Sharing insights gained from One Ecosystem’s 10-year journey, Burkhard highlighted how authors of research who work closely with their publishers can support knowledge sharing and empower researchers. In the case of One Ecosystem, this collaboration translates to increased visibility, discoverability, reusability and citability of the published work, as well as rapid and hassle-free authoring and peer review experience, all thanks to the automated workflows and human-centric approaches provided through the publishing solutions of the ARPHA publishing platform.
It is worth issuing a reminder that manuscripts submitted in 2026 and accepted for publication in One Ecosystem journal are eligible for a 10% discount on the article publication charge (APC).
Despite excellent on-site organization, many sessions struggled to accommodate the massive turnout.Photo courtesy of the ESP.
Throughout the week, the daily program featured eight parallel session tracks covering a wide range of topics, many closely aligned with ESP Working Groups and National Networks. A dedicated poster session took place on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the field excursions offered ESP 2026 Europe delegates the challenge of an intense, half-day climbing experience in a nature park just outside Prague. Photo courtesy of ESP.
On Thursday, delegates had the opportunity to join one of several field excursions. These ranged from a visit to the unique rewilding reserve located in the former military area in Milovice, to a walk through the Prague Pasture: one of the city’s most remarkable natural sites, and an intense climbing experience just outside Prague.
Zdeněk Ent was awarded Best Poster for his poster, “Experiencing Ecosystem Services: Art, Sensory Engagement and Transformative Learning in Peri-Urban Landscapes”. In a yearly tradition, part of the award includes a free publication in the One Ecosystem journal.
Following an ESP tradition, the three highest-voted posters were recognised during Friday’s closing ceremony, with the first-prize winner receiving a free publication in One Ecosystem, sponsored by Pensoft. This year, the Best Poster Award went to Zdeněk Ent from Prague Institute of Planning and Development for the poster “Experiencing Ecosystem Services: Art, Sensory Engagement and Transformative Learning in Peri-Urban Landscapes”.
During the week, Pensoft’s exhibition stand welcomed dozens of inquiries regarding the publisher’s tailored journal portfolio. Visitors also expressed keen curiosity about the publishing services and self-developed platform available to journal owners, book authors, and conference organizers. Meanwhile, delegates showed notable interest in several titles, both well-established journals like Nature Conservation, NeoBiota, Metabarcoding & Metagenomics and One Ecosystem, and newly launched ones, including Individual-based Ecology and Advances in Pollinator Research.
A lot of Pensoft stand’s visitors were also pleased to see that there was a new player amongst the journals of Pensoft aimed at an emerging field in ecology. The recently rebranded Agricultural and Ecological Modelling (AEM) provides a unique scholarly outlet thanks to its modern approach to publishing by increasing transparency, giving credit to research objects across the entire modelling research lifecycle. This is achieved through publishing specialised article types, such as: Formal Model, Model Testing and Calibration, Model Implementation and Documentation, Data Papers and Software Descriptions. These new publishing formats are designed to keep pace with advances in Modelling research and to make it FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) by enabling scholarly credit for diverse research outputs, often created by different groups of authors. For the time being, AEM remains a Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that it will not charge authors for open-access publication.
AEM also has a focus on open science and reproducibility; it is currently archived in four databases (CLOCKSS, Zenodo, Portico, and Zendy) and indexed in over 40 services, including AGRICOLA, CABI, ChronosHub, CNKI, FAO AGRIS, ResearchGate, and Swisscovery, among others. You can learn more about AEM in the latest editorial.
For those who missed the opportunity to sign up for the journals’ newsletters at the stand, they can do this by filling in their email address from the homepage of the journal they are interested in, or by updating their profiles in the Pensoft system.
Undoubtedly, amongst the greatest highlights at the Pensoft’s stand was the Horizon Europe-funded GREEN TALENT project, where our Project Department leads the project’s Work Package dedicated to Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation.
The conference delegates were intrigued to learn about the international initiative’s aim to build biodiversity and climate capacity at national, trans-European and global levels, with a focus on Widening Countries. The partners at Green Talent: both from academic and non-academic backgrounds, are to contribute expertise, training, and secondments and connect pilot projects to broader EU and global networks. One of the ways the GREEN TALENT consortia does this is by designating four Demonstration Pilots (a.k.a. Demo Hubs) in four Widening countries: Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, where secondees can benefit from real-world experience and foster partnerships across sectors, while working on scalable solutions to climate and biodiversity challenges, acting as collaboration hubs between academic and non-academic sectors.
Members of the Horizon Europe-funded GREEN TALENT project consortium. Photo courtesy of ESP.
Having only kicked off a year ago and set to run for four years in total, there are many new developments and results yet to be announced from GREEN TALENT, including a Capacity-Building Platform that will allow users to browse various opportunities and events meant to help them improve their skills; to get in touch and foster collaboration with other experts; and to learn about best practices from across different institutions and relevant companies. This is why we strongly recommend visiting the GREEN TALENT, signing up for the project’s newsletter and following the initiative on BlueSky and Linkedin.
GREEN TALENT’s project coordinator, Prof. Dr. Mario V. Balzan, presented at a session dedicated to sustainable and inclusive approaches to ecosystem services tailored to the needs of islands.
In addition to the various GREEN TALENT information brochures and promo materials present at the Pensoft stand, people at the conference could spot quite a few of the project’s members around the ESP venue. There were several talks by GREEN TALENT representatives, including the project’s coordinator: Prof. Dr. Mario V. Balzan (Ecostack Innovations). His talk, part of the session “Islands at the forefront of sustainable and inclusive ecosystem services approaches” examined governance and knowledge gaps in pollinator ecosystem services on small islands, where he used Malta as a case study.
The signature journal stickers by Pensoft were once again a common sight at the ESP conference in Prague. Photo courtesy of ESP.
Ultimately, the conference successfully highlighted the tools needed to drive sustainable development across Europe. Through active contributions to both the overarching policy discussions and the targeted skill-building sessions for the next generation of researchers, Pensoft continued its commitment to making environmental science open, transparent, and globally accessible.
