02.04.2008 - 04.04.2008 | Bremen - Internationale Konferenz

International Conference on Implications of GM-Crop Cultivation at Large Spatial Scales

GMLS-International Conference will be held in Bremen on 2nd-4th April 2008. With this conference a platform will be provided to collate general strategies to cope with systemic risks brought about by recent social and technological developments and discuss available methods and the state-of-the-art in the relevant disciplines.

Aims

Ecological, agricultural and economic implications of genetically modified (GM) plants on large spatial scales are currently discussed in science, administration, and in the context of agricultural practice. It is still controversial how effects with great spatial extent can be assessed in risk analysis, in the approval procedure, in the planning of co-existence measures, and in post market monitoring. The conference aims at compiling methods and strategies, which address the issues related to large scale cultivation of GM plants. Topics include empirical work related to risk assessment, theoretical concepts, as well as methodological aspects such as modelling and data analysis facing large spatial and temporal dimensions.

Context

Genetically Modified plants are tested under specific local conditions, however, notification of an event is granted for the entire European Union. It is not obvious how processes analysed on the laboratory and field level may be extrapolated to landscapes and regions. Experiences gained under different climatic and biocenotic conditions, e.g. in the US, may neither be valid nor transferable to other regions, which differ in biogeographic conditions, e.g. a highly structured agricultural environment or different cultivation methods. Additionally, it is difficult to test the range of potential combinations of effects in laboratory experiments. These aspects gain relevance as GM plants can reproduce and potentially persist in nearnatural habitats. Hence, the relevance of long-term processes becomes obvious. With respect to the co-existence of different production systems, reliable co-existence measures must base on an ex ante regional analysis in order to secure segregation in cultivation and processing. All the more, the development of adequate methods is decisive to address potential risks on large spatial scales. Different methodologies have been suggested in the last years to analyse potential large-area and longterm effects of GM plant cultivation. These include extrapolation techniques - among others - based on modelling, remote sensing as well as analyses using geographic information systems (GIS) and data base networks. With this conference we want to provide a platform to collate and discuss available methods and the state-ofthe- art in the relevant disciplines. Our intention is to bring together expertise from different fields to communicate innovative methods and to enhance progress in assessing large scale implications of GM cultivation.

Registration

The conference fee: 90 €
(incl. conference material, proceedings, coffeebreak welcome buffet).

Deadlines:
Contributions: 20. January 2008
Registration:   29. February 2008

Venue

University of Bremen, Germany
Conference hall: Hörsaal GW 1
Universitätsallee

Organising Committee

Hauke Reuter, Richard Verhoeven, (University of Bremen),
Broder Breckling (German Ecological Society, Specialist Group on Genetic Engineering and Ecology),
Wolfgang Büchs (German Ecological Society, Specialist Group on Agroecology),
Winfried Schröder, Gunther Schmidt (University of Vechta),
Wilhelm Windhorst (University of Kiel),
Angela Franz-Balsen (German Society for Human Ecology),
Wiebke Züghart (Federal Agency for Nature Conservation)

Contact

Hauke Reuter
E-Mail: hauke.reuter@uni-bremen.de
Tel. +49 421 218 63473

Richard Verhoeven
E-Mail: verhoeven@uni-bremen.de
Tel. +49 421 592238

For further information and registration please consult the website.


The conference contributes to the Social-Ecological Research funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). It is attempted to collate general strategies to cope with systemic risks brought about by recent social and technological developments. The management of theses risks requires the involvement of larger sectors of modern society due to the inherent complex ways how these organise and access natural resources.