State of the World's Plants & Fungi Symposium
Join international experts to explore the digitisation of herbarium and fungarium collections, including its applications and implications.
How to attend
Date and time
29 June to 1 July 2026, daily timings vary
Location
Kew Gardens and online (hybrid event)
Prices and booking
Registration is now closed.
The Digital Biodiversity Revolution
The world’s herbaria and fungaria hold the most complete, expertly curated and important sources of information for plant and fungal life on Earth. Yet, for much of their history, these data have remained accessible only to physical visitors. Massive efforts are now underway to digitise these collections, unlocking billions of data points through high-resolution imaging, omics analyses and the generation of rich multimodal meta-data.
This three-day symposium accompanies the publication of a cutting-edge report exploring the applications and implications of this digital revolution. It brings together international experts to examine how these emerging digital resources are being used to address pressing scientific, environmental and societal questions.
Crucially, we will discuss how best to galvanise global support to increase digitisation, particularly in biodiverse, low-income countries. These discussions will be developed into an open access publication to drive future action and policy.
Don't miss your chance to be part of the conversation to shape the future of biodiversity research.
Programme and workshop
The programme is based around themed sessions in which invited experts will explore critical topics through presentations and Q&A panel discussions:
- Digitisation success stories from around the world
- New frontiers in specimen science
- Unlocking specimen data to accelerate biodiversity knowledge
- Tapping into the biocultural wealth of collections
- Digital data, open access and sovereign rights
- Developing digital evidence for biodiversity policy
In-person attendees will also be able to participate in a workshop to contribute their ideas towards the subsequent publication. Please note, the workshop is not available to online participants.
Other programme highlights include:
- Special session – Supercharging biodiversity conservation: The powers and pitfalls of AI
- Flash poster presentations
- Poster sessions and drinks receptions on 29 and 30 June
- Symposium dinner (optional) on 30 June
Poster presentations and prizes
Abstract submissions are now closed.
All poster presentations will be accompanied by a one-minute flash talk. Posters will be open for viewing throughout the symposium including designated posters sessions and drinks receptions on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 June. Prizes will be awarded for the best student and early career researcher posters.
Symposium dinner
The symposium dinner on Tuesday 30 June will be held in Kew’s Orangery restaurant, a Grade I listed historic building designed by Sir William Chambers.
Tickets for the dinner cost £48 (including VAT) and must be pre-booked when registering for the symposium.
Location and travel
The symposium will take place at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lectures will be held in the Lady Lisa Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, Jodrell Laboratory, Kew Road, Surrey TW9 3DS. To access the building, please enter the Gardens via the Jodrell Gate on Kew Road (approximately 300m from Victoria Gate).
Travel bursaries
Applications for our travel bursaries are now closed. If new bursaries become available, we will advertise them here so please come back and check for updates. We also recommend contacting your relevant national and international learned societies, who often have bursaries to support travel to international meetings.
Accommodation
We strongly recommend that delegates book their accommodation as early as possible to secure availability and the best prices. Nearby accommodation is available at:
Travelodge London Kew Bridge Hotel (0.9 miles away)
Premier Inn London Kew Bridge Hotel (1.2 miles away)
Premier Inn London Richmond hotel (1.2 miles away)
Travelodge London Richmond Central (1.8 miles away)
Other local bed and breakfast accommodation can be found at: www.kewaccommodation.com.
Please note, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew cannot accept any responsibility for the information on the above list or the standard of accommodation services provided.
Sponsors and exhibitors
If you are interested in advertising, sponsorship or exhibitor opportunities at the symposium, please contact sotwpf@kew.org.
This year’s symposium has been made possible thanks to gifts in Wills to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Thanks also to our State of the Worlds Plants and Fungi Symposium advertisers and exhibitors, Max Communications, Annals of Botany, The New Phytologist Foundation and Nordic Journal of Botany.
State of the World's Plants & Fungi 2026
View our main page for updates about the 2026 State of the World's Plants & Fungi Report, and to view previous report releases.