We are excited to announce the opening of general registration for the international conference ‘Bridging Boundaries. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environmental History of the Low Countries‘, which will be held in Ghent, 3-4 December 2026.
The conference takes stock of recent research, ongoing projects, and current debates in the field of the environmental history of the Low Countries during the longue durée. It explicitly also encourages exchange between scholars working in different disciplines, including environmental history, environmental archaeology, historical ecology, and historical geography. The two-day conference consists of an opening keynote, 28 papers in thematic sessions and an exciting round table on bridging the boundaries between humanities and beta sciences research. Research themes include weather and climate, woodlands, water and wetlands, landscape history, animals, vermin, food, environmental management, and biodiversity.
The conference will take place in Ghent, in the magnificent historical city centre. Venue will be the Conference Center ‘Sint-Baafshuis’, located in the former diocesan seminary building from the seventeenth century.
BRIDGING BOUNDARIES is organised by Ghent University (Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies and Research Group Human-Environment Dynamics ), University of Antwerp (Environmental and Rural History of Urbanised Societies-research cluster), and KU Leuven (Research Group Middle Ages). Friday morning is co-organised with the Roman Society Research Center, a joint research center of Ghent University and Free University Brussels.
Direct link to the registration page: https://event.ugent.be/registration/bridgingboundariesconference
Direct link to the programme: https://www.ugent.be/pirenne/en/news-events/enclosures/bridgingboundaries_programme