At the ABM in Edinburgh earlier this year, we presented outline proposals to join with TDWG for a joint meeting in Okinawa for 2024. However, at that time, the proposal still required further work to enable the SPNHC membership to endorse it, and we thus agreed to explore further with TDWG. After some months of hard work by a joint organising committee formed by the two societies, we are very excited to share the developments that have been made to hold a SPNHC 2024 annual meeting jointly with TDWG (Biodiversity Information Standards) in Okinawa, Japan. This will provide a golden opportunity to welcome Asia-Pacific members of natural history collections and biodiversity data communities. It will also be an unparalleled opportunity for membership of both organizations to make new connections and encourage international collaboration with their counterparts in Asia. The theme of the conference is enhancing local capacity, elevating global standards.
The proposed meeting dates are in the first week of September 2024, with main events happening from Tuesday the 3rd through Saturday the 7th of September. We have a conference venue proposed at the Okinawa Convention Center adjoining a beautiful beach and affordable hotel accommodations. The content will be delivered in a hybrid mode, allowing for both synchronous and asynchronous participation by remote attendees. The conference programme will be developed in an integrated format as much as possible, including joint sessions, symposia and networking events. Excursion and field trip locations on and around the Okinawa Island are being actively explored, such as museums, field research stations, and World Heritage sites.
Okinawa 2024 will signify the second joint meeting with TDWG and SPNHC after the remarkable success of the first joint conference in Dunedin, New Zealand in 2018. What is even more significant is that SPNHC will be coming to Asia for the first time in nearly 40 years of its history. We will be shortly presenting these proposals formally to you the society’s membership, as agreed at the 2022 ABM in Edinburgh earlier in the year, and hope you will join us in supporting this meeting so we can look forward to welcoming you all to TDWG-SPNHC 2024 in Okinawa.