First Announcement: European Space Weather Week 2026 call for convening of sessions and discussion meetings
European Space Weather Week (ESWW) 2026 will be held in Florence, Italy from 2nd – 6th November in a hybrid format. The overarching theme for ESWW2026 is ‘Data-driven and physics-based cross-scale space weather and space climate’.
The ESWW conference is an excellent opportunity for people from all over the world to gather and discuss the most recent insights in space weather and space climate, and to address the emerging challenges and impacts. Science, observations, data exploitation, data standards and metadata, service development, operational models, engineering and industrial needs are all important aspects of the field that are addressed.
One of the strengths of ESWW is that participants can contribute significantly to its content through Parallel Sessions, Plenary Sessions and Topical Discussion Meetings (TDMs). The ESWW Programme Committee (PC) and Local Organising Committee (LOC) are pleased to announce that the call for the convening of these sessions will be open during the following time window:
- Opening date – 16th February 2026
- Closing date (plenary and parallel) – 20th March 2026
- Closing date (TDMs) – 3rd April 2026
A short synopsis of each element is given below. More information will be made available on the ESWW2026 website in due course.
Plenary Sessions
This year, the ESWW will host four plenary sessions.
Two plenary sessions will be dedicated to topics proposed by the community. Here, the community is invited to submit proposals to convene. Plenary session proposals are invited covering one or more of the following topics: modelling, data analysis, instrumentation, observations and measurements, end-user needs and applications, and R2O2R. The proposed sessions must fit within the theme of the conference, “Data-driven and physics-based cross-scale space weather and space climate”.
Proposals are sought that are engaging, of a particularly high-standard, relevant to the broader space weather and space climate community, and designed to stimulate discussion and debate.
The other two plenary sessions will feature distinguished presentations proposed by the convenors of parallel sessions, promoting parallel sessions to a broader audience. As such these sessions will not be part of this call.
Parallel Sessions
This year ESWW PC decided to implement a new format for parallel sessions. Those interested in convening a session at ESWW2026 may submit a proposal to one of the following Topics:
- SOL – The Sun and Solar activity
- HEL – Heliosphere (including , e.g., solar wind, ICMEs, SEPs, GCRs, SW effects on other planets, etc.)
- MIT – Magnetosphere/Ionosphere/Thermosphere
- SWI – SW effects on Infrastructure
- SCL – Space Climate
- IOM – Instrumentation, Observation techniques, and Missions (including, e.g., sessions related to end-users and applications)
- OTH – Other topics
Proposers have the freedom to choose the title for their session. In the session description, the motivation and the reason why the proposed session is relevant for this year should be provided in one or two sentences. The proposed session may be a general one or focusing on a specific subject related to a selected Topic.
A single OPS session is intended, which will welcome submissions on research topics related to Space Weather and Space Climate but not covered by any other focused sessions. The OPS session will be proposed by the PC and a team of conveners to lead such session will be announced later. One member of the PC will join the team to offer support.
The PC strongly encourages those who have not previously proposed a session to do so. In line with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we welcome and encourage applications from conveners of all backgrounds, including but not limited to, different career stages, geographical locations, ability, genders, and ethnicities.
Topical Discussion Meetings
Topical Discussion Meetings (TDMs) are an important component of the European Space Weather Week (ESWW) – a format meant to facilitate engaging debates within the heliospheric, and space weather and space climate communities. These meetings provide the opportunity for interested participants to address key issues in a community forum style that complements the conference sessions. Potential conveners must describe in dedicated fields of the proposal form the target community, the expected outcome of the meeting, and its potential impact. After the selection of the proposed TDMs is made, the proposers will be informed in Q2 of 2026.