11th ESP World Conference

From global to local ecosystem services: pathways to Nature-based Solutions inspired from Down Under

23-27 June 2025 | Darwin, Australia

As we confront the critical challenges of climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, land degradation and sustainability, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer a powerful approach to address these interconnected crises. The 11th ESP World Conference in Darwin explored pathways to NbS, with a special focus on the insights that local and Indigenous peoples and their value systems can offer.

Australia, known for its vast and diverse ecosystems—from the Great Barrier Reef to its deserts and tropical forests—presents a rich tapestry of ecological knowledge and indigenous wisdom, but also of significant land changes in the last two centuries.

At this international conference, we bridged global and local scales, learning from managing Australia’s and the wider Asia-Pacific ecosystems to inspire solutions worldwide, linking science with policy. How do we draw on local communities and Indigenous ecological knowledge and values to shape pathways that are sustainable, inclusive, and effective? What lessons from the Down Under land can we apply to other regions seeking to live in harmony with nature?

Key topics included:

Local and Indigenous values and ecosystem services: Understanding the role of Indigenous and local community knowledge and value systems in shaping sustainable pathways.
Pathways to Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Exploring successful models from local to global scales, and how they can be applied elsewhere and/or adapted.
From research to practice: Connecting ecosystem services science with policymakers, practitioners, and diverse sectors to accelerate NbS implementation.
Nature-positive Solutions for a global future: How local insights can contribute to global environmental goals, such as the SDGs and biodiversity targets.

The 11th ESP World Conference featured keynote speeches, panels and interactive sessions, and workshops, allowing participants to explore these themes in-depth while fostering collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. With a strong emphasis on solutions, this event offered a unique platform for translating cutting-edge research into real-world impact.

To foster connections among participants, several side events were organized, including a conference dinner and field trips. These activities offered opportunities for attendees to engage with one another while also experiencing and learning from the beautiful and unique surroundings of Darwin.

Announcements

Conference photos

All official conference pictures will be available on ESP's Flickr page soon. Did you also take some photos during the sessions or the excursions? You can send them to us at conference@es-partnership.org.

Program

A detailed conference program and sessions schedule are available on the program overview page. Please check the day-by-day program to see the full program in detail. You can also download the program booklet if you prefer all the information in one file.