From April 28-30, 2026, the NEEDS 2026 conference will bring together scholars, practitioners and policymakers in Kaunas, Lithuania. Amid interconnected crises of biodiversity and climate change, the focus will be on the challenges and opportunities for societal resilience.

Titled: “Societal Resilience in Times of Cascading Crises and Disasters”, this year’s meeting is organised by the Civil Society and Sustainability Research group at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), with the support of the Research Council of Lithuania and the DeCrises project. Moreover, the organising committee includes DeCrises partners - Prof. Aistė Balžekienė (chair of the committee) and Natalia Beldyga (responsible for the scientific content and the social programme).

For now, the keynote speakers have been announced and the final programme will be available at the end of March:

• Professor Chris White (Head of the Centre for Water, Environment, Sustainability and Public Health at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow).
  • Keynote: “Assessing the Cascading Impacts of Natural Hazards on Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)”.
• Dr. Fabia Hüsler (Head of the Swiss National Drought Programme and Deputy Head of Section in the Hydrology Division of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)).
  • Keynote: “From Early Warnings to Action: How Scenario-Based Simulation Exercises Strengthen Drought Preparedness”.

Important dates for the participants:

Deadline for abstract and special sessions submission: 15 January 2026

Registration deadline: 15 March 2026

Read more about the NEEDS 2026 conference here: https://needs.ktu.edu/