Future Venues

Porposals for venues are normally put forward by EMS Member Societies, in collaboration with the national Meteorological and Hydrological Service. Proposals are evaluated by the EMS Committee on Meetings. The final selection is the task of the EMS Council.

Venues for 2025 are currently under consideration, venues for years 2026 and beyond are open for proposals.

Submitting a proposal

Proposals are welcome at any time, but due to the timeline for the selection process the decision may take some time. Ideally a venue proposal for a specific year should be submitted at least two to three years in advance of the planned conference.
Guidelines detailing information on requirements for venues suitable for EMS Annual Meetings are provided at the bottom of this page. Please also take note of the sustainable meetings policy.
Please download the proposal form below and return the completed form to the EMS Executive Secretary.

Guidelines for proposals

EMS Annual Meeting venues – Guidelines for proposals

The EMS Annual Meetings have been organised as bottom-up, call-for-papers conference since 2004. For more detailed information on past EMS Annual Meetings please consult https://www.emetsoc.org/events/ems-annual-meetings/ where links to the respective conference sites of recent meetings with more information on venues and the programme are provided.

I – General Information

1 – Submission of Proposals, decision process, timeline

Proposals for venues can be submitted by EMS Member Societies.
Proposals are evaluated by the EMS Committee on Meetings (CoM); the CoM will make a recommendation to the EMS Council. The final selection is the task of the EMS Council.

Proposals are welcome at any time, but due to the timeline for the selection process the decision may take some time. Ideally, a venue proposal for a specific year should be submitted at least two to three years in advance of the planned conference.

Please consult https://www.emetsoc.org/events/ems-annual-meetings/ for already determined venues/years.

Society name, contact person(s) incl. e-mail and telephone number are required.

2 – Budget

The EMS Council is keen to select inexpensive venues such as university campuses to minimise financial risks; whilst this may not always be possible economic options should be pursued.

Estimated costs for rooms, for technical equipment, staff (technicians), additional cost not included in the room hire (such as cleaning, electricity or security), facilities for session streaming and video conferencing, and Wi-Fi need to be investigated and provided with the proposal.

3 – Conference organisation

The EMS Annual Meetings are organized by the Professional Congress Organiser (PCO) Copernicus GmbH.

4 – Support of NMHS and local support organisation

The involvement of the National Meteorological Service (NMHS) in the country of the proposed venue is important for the success of the meeting, thus the formal support and practical involvement of the NMHS should be sought in preparation of the proposal.

It is strongly recommended that the proposing/host country sets up a local organising framework, e.g. an active and responsive contact person supported by a small group of people from the various institutions involved. These should include at least the National Meteorological Society (or Regional Meteorological Society being a Member of the EMS) and the NMHS to follow up the scientific and logistical preparation of the conference and quickly respond to organising matters. Representatives of the local hosts will also become members of the Programme and Science Committee (PSC) to ensure involvement in the session programme development.

Also, care should be taken that the contact to the venue management (university campus or conference centre) is facilitated, and if necessary aid the communication between the management and the PCO for the local organisation of the conference (Copernicus GmbH); this is even more relevant in case English is not a working language, so the language barrier can be overcome.

5 – Sustainability

Between 500 and 800 participants attend the EMS Annual Meeting each year. Though small by comparison, the travel across Europe, the amount of paper and waste produced as a result is considerable and the EMS is looking at the different aspects and impacts of its own meetings. Thus relevant criteria for the selection of venues include that the venue has a sustainable-meeting policy in place (energy consumption, water and waste management, catering) and the availability of near-by accommodation and easy access by public transport. More information is available at https://www.emetsoc.org/events/ems-annual-meetings/future-venues/ems-sustainable-meetings-policy/

II – Meeting venue and basic requirements

6 – Number of participants

The number of participants has been increasing over the years, but estimates for future meetings are naturally endowed with large uncertainties. The number of recent years – before the pandemic – were:
2012: 450 I  2013: 650 I  2014: 600 I  2015: 500 I  2016: 600 I  2017: 800  I  2018: 700 I  2019: 800. In 2022, the first hybrid meeting, saw 650 participants onsite and 150 attending online.

However, the number of people at the venue at any one time is usually not above 60% of the total number, as people tend to spend only a couple of days at the conference, only a small percentage stays for the entire week.

7 – Conference period

It is expected that the meeting will run from Monday morning until Friday lunch time or afternoon. In addition, two or three meetings/workshops are normally arranged on the Sunday prior to the conference.

8 – Number and size of lecture theatres/rooms

The meeting typically runs with five parallel sessions. Thus the following number of rooms are required:

  • lecture theatre (300 people) – used for plenary sessions during the week [dependent on the availability of rooms for parallel sessions, this theatre may also be used for the largest sessions during the remainder of the week];
  • 5 lecture rooms from Monday morning until Friday lunchtime (or afternoon) suitable for 200/150/150/150/100 participants (theatre style) respectively (plus the option for the use of a sixth lecture room for 100 participants on some of the days);
  • one side meeting room (40 people, U-shape with tables – or – 100 theatre style) for side meetings;
  • one room that can be used as working space for participants, with tables and chairs for 20 to 30 people;
  • two to three rooms on Sunday prior to the conference that can serve to host the EMS Council and General Assembly (50 people, U-shape) and training workshops that are organised in connection with the conference (30 participants, rows of tables and chairs);
  • small room for storage of conference material/material for exhibitors.

9 – Technical equipment

  • All lecture and side meeting rooms should be equipped with a beamer, screen and an audio system (hand and tie microphones, if necessary); equipment of the rooms with a laptop/computer would be a plus but not strictly necessary;
  • In addition, facilities for the organisation of a hybrid meeting, i.e. for streaming of all session talks, online presentations and talks and communication with online participants are required; if not available the option to bring in the technical equipment and staff must be in place (and ideally a cost estimate provided);
  • Screen size must be suitable for the respective lecture room (i.e. slides must be well readable from the back of the room).

The proposal must detail which technical equipment is already included in the room hire; a compilation of additional costs for equipment not included is also necessary (this may be staff hours for technicians, costs for portable micros, costs for a separate stage for speakers, …)

10 – Foyer

A centrally located foyer that is large enough to host an exhibition of 5 to 8 booths (3mx2m), together with the catering area, with good light conditions, and space for the registration desks towards the entrance area.

11 – Poster area

Space for a poster area of around 150 doubled-sided poster boards, located adjacent or together with the exhibition and catering area. The area must have good light conditions. Poster boards should be distributed as to provide enough space for people to stand in front and others who wander the isles at the same time (at least 3 meters between rows of poster boards).

The proposal should, if possible, include estimates of the costs for poster boards and five exhibition booths.

12 – Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi must be provided and be available in the entire area.

12 – Dates

Preferred period: second week of September

13 – Access to venue

The venue should either be centrally located in town, or not far from it with easy access to the location, i.e. well-frequented public transport lines that serve the area all day round; travel times longer than 20 minutes from the city centre will not be acceptable.

III – Proposal Submission – final remarks

Financial estimates should be provided and should include detailed prices for the rooms, foyers, technical equipment, including the option to organise a fully hybrid event, Wi-Fi, technicians and staff (including costs such as cleaning, electrical power, extra rental for any build-up period, if applicable).

A full description of the venue, including location and access to the venue, should be provided with the proposal and invitation.

Please download the Proposal form here.

and return the completed form to the EMS Executive Secretary at ems-sec (at) emetsoc (dot) org.
Should you require assistance in compiling a proposal or communicating with potential venues Copernicus GmbH, the PCO with whom EMS collaborates, will be happy to support you. Please contact the EMS Secretariat.


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