International Nitrogen Conferences
The INI holds a conference every three years, inviting members of the international nitrogen community to meet up and discuss ideas and exchange knowledge on nitrogen issues.
A brief overview of recent INI conferences and output documents are provided below.
The 8th International Nitrogen Conference (2021 - full participation)
INI2021 took place online from 30 May to 3 June 2021. The conference was hosted by Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) with the support of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Conference co-organizer was the International Nitrogen Initiative.
The overarching theme of INI2021 was the Sustainable Development Goals – the 17 UN-sanctioned targets for social, environmental and economic outcomes to be achieved by 2030 – with nitrogen central to 16 of them. How humanity manages its relationship with nitrogen over the coming decade will be critical in determining whether we meet these goals.
The scientific program was divided into 8 main themes and 15 subthemes related to different aspects of reactive nitrogen in combination with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Scientists and delegates were presented with the latest findings on:
- Sustainable agriculture, food and nutrition systems, in relation to effective nitrogen management
- Threats for health, environment and biodiversity and solutions to combat these nitrogen-driven effects
- Observations of global challenges, nitrogen fluxes and interactions between different drivers and pressure
- Closing the nitrogen cycle through innovations for sustainable N management
- Integrated nitrogen science and policy approaches
PROGRAMME: View the scientific programme (PDF)
POSTERS: View the poster presented at INI2021
VIDEO: Watch "Nitrogen in Germany": Presentation by Dirk Messner (UBA)
Berlin Declaration: Reduce the mass flows of reactive nitrogen compoundsA joint conference declaration based on the latest scientific knowledge to stimulate further policy action towards effective integrated nitrogen management was launched. |
The 8th International Nitrogen Conference (2020 - virtual 'curtain raiser')
In lieu of the postponed 8th INI Global Nitrogen Conference (INI2020) due to COVID-19, a virtual 'curtain raiser' event was held online on 4th May 2020. Its recording is available here.
INI thanks the 420 enthsiastic participants of the virtual curtain raiser event for making it a grand success.
The 7th International Nitrogen Conference
The last INI conference was held in Melbourne, in December 2016. The overarching theme of the conference was "Solutions to improve nitrogen use efficiency for the world" and addressed “The Nutrient Nexus” of reducing nutrient losses while producing food and energy for all of our human family while reducing nitrogen’s negative effects on the environment and human health.
The conference was attended by 380 delegates from over 33 countries.
For more information on the conference, please click here.
A key output of the conference was The Melbourne Declaration, which can be accessed here.
The 6th International Nitrogen Conference
The 6th INI conference was held in Kampala, Uganda in November 2013. The theme of this conference was "Just Enough N:Perspectives on how to get there for ‘too much’ and ‘too little’ regions".
A key output this conference was the 'Kampala Statement-for-Action on Reactive Nitrogen in Africa and Globally'. This document outlines the situation of reactive nitrogen, its benefits and the related environmental threats in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. This document can be accessed by clicking the here.
Earlier International Nitrogen Conferences
The INI have held earlier conferences in the Netherlands, USA, China, Brazil and India. All have been influential in building momentum towards a common objective to design more productive, economic, and sustainable food and energy production systems, to meet the challenges of the growing global population in a changing environment.