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From 13th-17th August 2006, the BSPP Presidential Meeting combined forces with the 8th Conference of the European Foundation for Plant Pathology (EFPP) a t KVL in Copenhagen. More than 200 delegates from over 30 countries attended, and this would have been more but for the inopportune ban on taking hand luggage into planes in the UK which resulted in a number of flight cancellations and a few UK delegates not making it to Denmark. Others did arrive, but without their baggage or a change of clothes, but that’s another story.
The theme of the Conference was ‘Sustainable Disease Management: The European Perspective’ and we started with the Garrett Memorial Lecture presented by Professor Lene Lange from Novozymes, Denmark, who described the many challenges we face in ensuring that plant pathology remains a vibrant force that is appreciated and valued by industry and policy makers. Talks were then organised into concurrent sessions, and it is difficult to summarise the breadth of topics covered, so instead I direct you to the archives section of the BSPP webpages, where you can download the abstracts, and also to John Clarkson’s summary of one of the sessions, which follows this report.
It is however worth noting that the PH Gregory Competition was won by Mary Coates from Warwick HRI, and the John Colhoun poster competition was won by Steve Thompson from the States of Jersey Environment Department (pictured below receiving their prizes from the BSPP President, Peter Mills).
It is also worth mentioning the social aspects of the conference, which included a civic reception at Copenhagen City Hall, an excellent conference dinner with live music and dancing into the night, and an endless supply of Carlsberg on tap at the Conference venue. Special thanks go to the local organisers, Lisa Munk, Dave Collinge, Dan Jensen and Michael Jensen, whose combined efforts made this meeting such a success, and BSPP for supporting the attendance of many UK delegates.
Matt Dickinson, University of Nottingham
