Planetary Limits and Complex Risks: Developing Interdisciplinary Perspectives

The 2026 conference will take place at UAntwerpen on 3 December 2026, at the Hof van Liere, and will be dedicated to the multiple dimensions of drought.

Drought is no longer an isolated environmental issue. Across Belgium and Europe, it is increasingly affecting ecosystems, agriculture, forests, public health, water availability, infrastructure, biodiversity, and economic resilience.

Join leading researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and students from across Belgium for a unique interuniversity conference exploring drought as a systemic climate risk and identifying pathways towards more resilient societies.

Throughout the day, participants will gain insights into the latest research on:

• Drought impacts on forests, biodiversity, ecosystems and agriculture
• Water scarcity, water security and groundwater recharge
• Climate-related risks to infrastructure and the built environment
• Wildfires, soil degradation and ecosystem resilience
• Social vulnerability, water poverty and public policy
• Climate adaptation, nature-based solutions and risk governance
• Emerging tools for drought forecasting, risk assessment and decision-making

The program features keynote presentations by renowned experts, thematic panel sessions, interactive workshops, serious games, and opportunities to exchange ideas across disciplines and sectors. The discussions will feed into a white paper on knowledge gaps related to drought risks in Belgium, with optional involvement by all conference participants.

With contributions from:

• Patrick Willems (KU Leuven) : « Hydrological drought hazard and impacts in Flanders. »
• Sonia Vanderhoeven (ULB) : « Droughts, biodiversity and public policy in Belgium: addressing a systemic hazard. »
• Sandrine Meyer (ULB) : « Climate change and water poverty: taking action beyond price. »
• Michele Rasoloharimahefa (SSMG) : « Towards an Anticipatory Risk Culture: Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions and Preparedness for Emergency Situations. »
• Lisanne Groen (VUB/Open Universiteit) : « The Many Faces of Lock-in in the Governance of Water Scarcity in the Netherlands, the Uk (England) and Germany (Thuringia). »
• Emile Neimry (UCLouvain) : « Drought impacts on forest health in western Central Europe: a long-term . »
• Monica Rothwell (UCLouvain) : « Dynamics of tree water storage and its relationship with growth under water limited conditions. »
• Haben Blondeel (UGent) : « Choose your neighbours wisely: mitigating the impact of drought on forests by mixing tree species. »
• Nicolas Ghilain (ULiège/RMI) et al. : « Assessing Future Drought Risks for Belgian Forests: From Observation Networks to CLimate Projections. »
• Eva Forceville (UGent) : « Analysis of the effect of local environmental conditions on tree drought responses in newly planted forests. »
• Kevin Maebe (INBO) : « Climate-driven growth decline and drought sensitivity of Scots pine under compound heat and water stress in temperate forests. »
• Pierre-Yves Declercq (RBINS) : « Assessment of Climate-Induced Ground Movement Risk in Belgium Using InSAR, GNSS and precise Levelling. »
• Marit Hendrickx (KU Leuven) : « Uncertainty-aware 7-day soil moisture predictions for drought-resilient irrigation management under increasing hydroclimatic extremes. »
• Marlies Peeters (UGent) : « Exploiting hybridization and polyploidy to improve drought tolerance in forage grasses. »
• Nadège Vandewalle (ULiège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech) : « Back to the Future of Drought: Is Miscanthus Ready for a 2050 Climate? »
• Charlotte Janssens (UHasselt) : « Adaptation to Droughts via Agri-Food Trade: Perspective from Western Europe. »
• Kevin Thibaut (ULiège), Serious Game : « Cris’Eau Sec Wallonie”: local decision-makers tackling drought —learning crisis management through serious games. »
• Bidesh Kumar Bera (UNamur) : « Spatial vegetation patterns and community assembly in response to environmental variability. »
• Ewout Duhamel (UGent) : « CanopyChange: a pan-European drought experiment to study the resilience of the understorey herb layer in temperate forests. »
• Jan Staes (UAntwerpen) : « From Drought Risk to Water Security: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate-Resilient Catchments. »
• Jan M. Baetens (UGent) : « Belgium’s wildfire regime: when, how and where does it burn, and how does drought come into play? »
• Michell Andree Fernandez Velarde (UAntwerpen) : « Buffering Drought in the Andes: An Integrated Assessment of Dry Puna Wetlands (Bofedales) as Nature-Based Solutions for Water Security. »
• Daniel F. T. Hagan (UGent) : « A daily global soil moisture–temperature compound-risk dataset and event catalogue for linking drought hazards to ecosystems and social vulnerability. »
• Fanny Vrydagh & Nicolas Schroeder (ULB - iiTSE), workshop : « The Implosion Project: Waking Up to Connections in Addressing Wicked Problems. »
• Alexandre Mabille (HEPH-Condorcet), workshop : « Simulating Drought Futures: A Strategic Foresight and PolicyLab Workshop on Cascading Climate Risks. »
• Aurore Degré (ULiège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech) : « Agricultural Drought Vulnerability and Groundwater Recharge under Climate Change in Wallonia. »
• Hans Bruyninckx (UAntwerpen) : TBC

Discover the detailed event programme (PDF)

Scientific committee members: Aurore Brunson (Cerac), Loïc Gillerot (Cerac), Pierre Coheur (ULB), Fanny Vrydagh (ULB), Patrick Meyfroidt (UCLouvain), Marthe Nyssens (UCLouvain), Xavier Fettweis (ULiège), Aline Thiry (ULiège), Nicolas Dendoncker (UNamur), Sophie Béreau (UNamur), Vincent Bellinkx (UAntwerpen), Sebastien Lizin (UHasselt), Minhea Tanasescu (UMons), Larissa Romariz Peixoto (UMons), Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez (VUB), Christel Stalpaert (UGent), Hans Verbeeck (UGent), Gerard Govers (KULeuven), Charlotte Scheerens (KULeuven).