Call for Sessions – Living Data 2027

Living Data 2027 invites the biodiversity, biodiversity data management, ecology and collections communities—including all TDWG members—to help shape the conference program.

Submit your session proposal by 31 October 2026.

About Living Data 2027

Under the theme From Living Data to Ecological Intelligence, we are seeking creative, forward‑looking session proposals that explore how biodiversity data, knowledge, and technology can help us better understand the living world—and turn that understanding into action. Living Data is the TDWG 2027 Conference to be held June 9-12, 2027, in Montreal, Canada.

About sessions

We welcome proposals for parallel sessions, discussions, workshops, interactive formats, and other innovative approaches. TDWG members bring unique expertise in Biodiversity Data Standards, Data Management and Biodiversity Informatics, so we strongly encourage you to submit a session that you believe will resonate with the biodiversity, data management and collections communities and/or the diverse TDWG community. If you think a topic matters to TDWG, we want to see it.

Please note: This call is for session organizers (session chairs), not for individual abstracts. A separate call for abstracts will open once the conference sessions have been selected.

What topics could be covered?

Living Data 2027 will bring together communities working across the biodiversity information landscape—from observation and monitoring to conservation technologies, collections, AI, and science‑policy interfaces. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Ecological intelligence and AI
  • Data → prediction → decision support
• Biodiversity observation and monitoring
  • Observing biodiversity across scales
• Collections, specimens, and digital knowledge
  • The role of collections in modern biodiversity science
• Standards for recording Indigenous knowledge systems
  • Beyond the label: capturing cultural and Indigenous information responsibly
• Biodiversity data infrastructure and interpretation
  • Standards, semantics, platforms, databases, integrating collections and research data
• Biodiversity data governance, sovereignty, and trust
  • Access and Benefit Sharing, Digital Sequence Information, provenance, stewardship, responsible use
• Biodiversity futures
  • Climate change, resilience, forecasting, conservation action, policy, capacity building
  • Science‑to‑policy interfaces, government adoption of biodiversity intelligence, Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework implementation

These examples are not limits. We especially encourage proposals that bring together different disciplines, communities, technologies, or perspectives—and that explore what ecological intelligence could mean for the future of biodiversity science, collections, and society.

How to submit a session?

Submit by 31 October 2026

Each proposal requires:

• Title (<100 characters)
• Abstract (<200 words)
• Contact details for session organizers
• Type of session proposed
• Open to accepting abstracts: Yes/No

Session organizer responsibilities

Session organizers will be responsible for:

• Soliciting and coordinating presentations
• Reviewing and approving abstracts
• Moderating the session(s)
• Providing a short report (max 1 page) for the conference report

Every session must include two organizers who will be present in person to run the session. Every session must have a description that will be published on the conference website.

Please note:

• All organizers, presenters, and panelists must be registered for the conference.
• One person may submit up to two session proposals but may serve as co‑organizer on multiple sessions.

Questions?

Please contact the conference organizers at info@livingdata2027.com with any questions.

We look forward to seeing your ideas—and to showcasing sessions that reflect the full breadth and creativity of the biodiversity and collections communities.