REGISTRATIONSPONSOR ACCESS
There are at the moment 8 confirmed workshops that will be held on Monday 8th September.
Two more workshops are pending and will be announced later if confirmed.
All workshops will be held in the main venue (Corum Montpellier).
Planned workshops cover several key topics of Wind & Biodiversity issues for both onshore and offshore wind.
All workshops are presented below.
More details on each workshops will be added later on, once all speakers are confirmed.
Please note that some information provided are still preliminary and could evolve in the next weeks (especially : invited speakers, time slot).
We’d like to thank all workshops organizers and moderators for their commitment and support.
Reminder : participation to workshops requires to pay a specific fee (see here : Fees & Accommodation).
When registering, you cannot choose which workshops you plan to attend. However, a questionnaire will be sent to workshops participants during the summertime, so as to anticipate roughly the number of participants to each workshop, and organize rooms accordingly.
Workshop 1 - Birds & Offshore Wind - collision risks
Annual Meeting of the International Collision Risk Modeling Working Group
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September morning (9:30 / 13:00)
Venue :Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Kate Williams and Aonghais Cook
Organized by : Kate Williams (Biodiversity Research Institute), Evan Adams (Biodiversity Research Institute), Grant Humphreys (Black Bawks Data Science), Aonghais Cook (The Biodiversity Consultancy), Michael Wethington (Biodiversity Research Institute)
Aims & Objectives : Present and discuss some initial outputs from the working group, engage in breakout and full-group discussions on pressing collision risk modeling issues, and determine next steps, such as finalizing the group’s draft terms of reference and other deliverables.
Structure :
Outcomes : Feedback on the initial WG outputs (website,ToRs & inventory of turbine parameters) which can be used to revise and update these outputs. Initial scoping for a framework to assess the cumulative impact of collision, which will be further developed ahead of the next Working Group meeting (likely summer 2026), and developing a common understanding of how studies could be designed to validate collision risk models.
Audience : Participants outside the working group are welcome (subject to room capacity), but the expectation is that all participants will have a solid working knowledge of collision risk models.
Workshop 2 - Birds & Offshore Wind – Displacement
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September afternoon (14:00 / 17:30)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Sue O'Brien (MacArthur Green), Abel Gymesi (Waardenburg ecology), Aonghais Cook (The Biodiversity Consultancy)
Organized by : Sue O'Brien, Abel Gymesi, Alex Banks (Natural England), Aonghais Cook
Aims & Objectives : This workshop aims to identify common approaches to seabird post-construction monitoring and data analysis, to better quantify seabird displacement effects. Focusing on guillemot displacement as a case study, the workshop will :
Structures :
Outcomes : Information gathered at the workshop will be used to develop a set of published guidelines and recommendations for optimal data collection and analysis methods to quantify seabird displacement effects and actions to improve sharing of data, methods and findings.
Workshop 3 - Shutdown on Demand for Birds: The State of Science of Observer-led and Automated Shutdown on Demand Full day workshop (10:00 / 17:00)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Laith El Moghrabi & David Tidhar
Agenda and structure
Morning :
Lunch
Afternoon
Panel (1hour) : It works, so why don’t we use shutdown on demand on every wind farm?
Moderated panel discussion on the ethics of SoD (panelists TBC):
Next Frontier – Expanding ASD (1 hour)
Closing Remarks
Workshop 4 - Mitigating impacts of wind energy development on migratory species through multistakeholder partnership
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September morning (9:30 / 13:00)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Winifred Frick (bat Conservation International) and Tris Allinson (BirdLife International)
A rapid renewable energy transition is critical for a nature-positive and net-zero future, in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. However, if not planned, designed, sited, installed and operated properly, renewable energy projects – particularly wind energy – can pose significant adverse and lasting threats to biodiversity, including migratory species, during construction, operation and decommissioning, at the project site and beyond.
Aims & Objectives :
This workshop will highlight the work of the Energy Task Force (ETF), established in 2015 under the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). As a multi-stakeholder platform, it fosters cooperation among governments, multilateral environmental agreements, international organisations, civil society, and financial institutions. The ETF facilitates knowledge-sharing, the development of science-based best practices, and the promotion of responsible and innovative solutions for reconciling renewable energy infrastructure with biodiversity conservation.
Bringing together experts and key stakeholders, this workshop will explore how the ETF platform has been instrumental in driving sustainable energy development while mitigating impacts on migratory species. Panelists will discuss how they have leveraged ETF guidance, tools, and collaborations to implement practical conservation measures in renewable energy planning and operations. The session will showcase leading publications that have emerged from ETF collaborations, including Post-construction Bird and Bat Fatality Monitoring for Onshore Wind Energy Facilities in Emerging Market Countries by IFC – World Bank, KfW and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Mitigating biodiversity impacts associated with solar and wind energy development by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and Bird Curtailment in Offshore Wind Farms: Towards a Coherent sea-basin Approach to Mitigate Collision Risk for Birds by BirdLife Europe and Central Asia.
Additionally, the session will feature insights into the Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning (AVISTEP), a free online mapping tool developed by BirdLife International with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). AVISTEP helps identify areas where renewable energy projects could pose risks to birds, enabling informed decision-making that minimises biodiversity conflicts.
Outcomes : Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how the ETF fosters collaboration and drives progress toward a nature-safe renewable energy transition, as well as ways for interested stakeholders to engage in the ETF and its activities.
Workshop 5 - Wildlife protection on the grid side of renewable generation
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September afternoon (14:00 / 18:00)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Organized by : Manon Thiel (Renewables Grid Initiative), Brian McGowan (Scientias Energy), Tris Allinson (BirdLife International)
Summary :
When assessing the environmental impacts of wind energy projects, attention is often focused on the generation side – particularly bird collisions with turbines and disturbance from their operation. However, a crucial yet frequently overlooked component is the grid side infrastructure. As most wind energy projects are located in remote areas, new overhead transmission lines are needed to deliver power to consumption centres. These necessary grid connections (comprising transmission lines, distribution lines, and substations) can are often located in nature-rich and ecologically sensitive areas. As a result, they can pose significant risks to wildlife, including electrocution and collisions of bird species, and even fire ignition.
It is therefore essential to consider the grid as an integral part of wind energy infrastructure and to assess and mitigate its impacts on biodiversity with the same level of scrutiny as the turbines themselves.
To address this, a half-day workshop will explore the risks for wildlife associated with grid infrastructure and present cutting-edge mitigation solutions and global best practices for reducing wildlife electrocution, collision and nesting disturbance, as well as fire risks. Bustards are particularly sensitive to collision risk the workshop will make a deep dive on this challenge.
The workshop will cover :
Participants will be introduced to a wide range of solutions supported by successful multi-stakeholder projects, real-world examples and case studies from around the world.
Workshop 6 - 30 years of offshore wind: what do we know and what do we not know
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September morning (9:30 / 13:00)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Organised by : Georg Nehls (BioConsult SH) and Sytske van den Akker (Waardenburg Ecology)
Description & aim of the workshop:
Since the installation of the turbines at Tunö Knob, Denmark, in 1995 our knowledge about ecological impact of offshore wind has certainly increased and clearly informed decision making in marine spatial planning. As the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are supposed to become Europe’s powerhouse in the next decades, it is time to analyse to whether the knowledge accumulated so far allows solid assessments of the ecological impacts of this large-scale development and to ask which knowledge is needed for future developments.
The workshop shall give summarizing keynotes on the main topics and look into innovative approaches to assess biodiversity impacts of large-scale offshore wind developments for further environmentally friendly offshore wind development.
Introduction by : Georg & Sytske
Overview
Biology : Which questions have been answered, which issues have been solved in the past/what are the main knowledge gaps/, which new issues have been identified, what are the key issues? And what is needed for future?
Industry/regulator point of view : what has changed in the last 30 years? Which questions have been answered, which issues have been solved in the past/ what are the main knowledge gaps/, which new issues have been identified, what are the key issues?
Coffee break
Workshop
Workshop 7 - Natural Inclusive Design
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8thSeptember afternoon (14:00 / 17:30)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Bob Rumes (Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences) and Sytske van den Akker (Waardenburg Ecology)
Context and objectives
Nature-inclusive design (NID) refers to measures that are integrated in or added to the design of man-made structures to create suitable feeding, sheltering, spawning and/or nursery habitat for native species. Recently, several assessments of (potential) nature-inclusive design measures for offshore wind infrastructure were conducted. This workshop will assess the current state of knowledge and shape future research for NID for offshore wind. This will be achieved by defining nature-inclusive design for offshore wind in relation to broader nature restoration efforts, by providing an up-to-date evidence base for specific measures, and identifying knowledge gaps. Participants from governments, wind industry, universities, research institutes, NGO’s and consultancies will be invited to present brief (10 min) talks sharing best practices or even notable failures.
Key words : offshore wind farm, risks, opportunities, habitat change, restoration, benthic, artificial reef.
Preliminary structure and schedule :
Workshop 8 - Environment social sciences
Half-day workshop. Planned Monday 8th September morning (9:30 / 13:00)
Venue : Corum Montpellier
Moderators : Chris Hein (NREL) and Amanda Hale (WEST)
Context
The challenges associated with siting and permitting wind energy projects are multi-dimensional and require coordination and collaboration across different areas of expertise to overcome them. Environmental and social/community-related challenges are often inter-related—such as community opposition driven by environmental concerns, or facility siting preferences for environmental reasons but opposed by the community due to insufficient consideration of community concerns—which can include lack of trust in the independence of the studies or the project-community engagement process, among other issues. These issues are increasingly problematic for wind energy projects when coupled with the rise of misinformation and disinformation. A previous effort on the Grand Challenges in Wind Energy Science, led by the International Energy Agency (IEA), brought together scientists working on different aspects of wind energy, including the environmental and social sciences, to work toward a more holistic approach to the design and deployment of wind energy facilities in an interdisciplinary manner.
Aims & Objectives :
Representing the IEA Wind Tasks on environmental and social research, we propose an interactive workshop that will bring together international researchers and industry professionals in the social and environmental sciences to discuss issues that cut across these different areas of work.
The overarching goal of this workshop is to answer the following questions :
Outcomes : The final product will be a publicly available set of recommendations to support communicating social and environmental research considerations to various stakeholders. Convening the social and environmental sciences will help ensure this work is grounded in the experiences of developers/operators, consultants, regulators, and other conference attendees who are doing on-the-groundwork to deploy wind energy. Workshop topics, objectives, and stakeholder perspectives will be introduced by several invited speakers to identify the grand challenges in the social and environmental sciences. We will then use interactive polling and breakout groups, including a participatory SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) technique to engage participants and brainstorm solutions.