FORSAID in the spotlight at the XIII European Congress of Entomology in Tours

Two weeks ago, the French city of Tours became a meeting point for the international entomological community as the host of the XIII European Congress of Entomology (ECE 2026) between 29 June and 3 July. The event was organised by the French Entomological Society and the Praesidium for European Entomology and featured a programme packed with plenary lectures, symposia and poster sessions. As such, the Congress brought together specialists and stakeholders from across the Old Continent and beyond to share knowledge, exchange ideas and create partnerships. 

FORSAID was well represented throughout the conference, with consortium members from INRAE, the Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI) and the University of Padua (UNIPD) actively contributing to the week’s official agenda. The highlights in this regard include:

  • a session on how citizen science shapes entomology, co-chaired by Bastien Castagneyrol (INRAE) and Maarten De Groot (SFI) 

  • a session on innovative smart traps and monitoring technology, where Davide Rassati (UNIPD) presented how AI tools can automatically recognise wood-boring beetles

  • a research poster by Hongyu Sun (INRAE) on an alternative way to address pine wood nematode outbreaks without resorting to clear-cutting entire forests (research that also underpins FORSAID's first policy brief)

  • two sessions on population dynamics and modelling: Ms. Sun discussed how far longhorn beetles can carry the pine wood nematode across Southwestern France, while Mr. De Groot looked at how climate change is driving bark beetle outbreaks and the adaptation of forest pest management that must follow

Beyond the sessions where FORSAID was presented, the project’s communication partner Pensoft Publishers also made its mark at the Congress. Its team ran a workshop on science communication for entomology, exploring how to effectively translate complex topics for both specific target audiences and the general public. Examples from FORSAID as well as fellow Horizon Europe projects EUFAWREADY, VALOR, AGRI4POL, WildPosh, PollinERA and ANTENNA, underpinned this session. Pensoft also hosted a stand in the exhibition space that featured FORSAID materials alongside those of the aforementioned initiatives, highlighting the breadth of EU-funded research into plant and pollinator health on display at the event.

The booth’s showcase also marked the debut of two new FORSAID outputs. The first was FORSAID's second policy brief, "AI-driven surveillance for quarantine Agrilus beetles in Europe", a deeper exploration of the AI-assisted image-recognition approach Mr. Rassati presented at the Congress. Alongside it, FORSAID also unveiled its target species factsheet - this new resource profiles the ten insect, fungi and nematode pests at the centre of the project's work.

More information on ECE 2026 is available on the event’s official website. Further details on FORSAID's target species and the associated objectives can be found here.