SOCIAL EVENTS

Throughout the week of ECCB 2026, a range of social events will be organised to give participants the opportunity to get to know Leiden, its surroundings, and the natural landscape of the region. These events are designed to encourage informal interaction and networking, complementing the scientific programme of the congress.

Interested in joining one or more of the social events? Please sign up for the social events during your registration.

Please note that some social events take place simultaneously with excursions. If you are interested in activities during these time slots, we recommend also having a look at the excursions.

Blue City Walk: Discover the biodiversity in Leiden’s historic canals

Dates:
Monday 6 July, 13:30 – 14:30
Wednesday 8 July, 19:30 – 20:30
Location: Havenplein 5, 2312 GZ Leiden
Duration: 60 minutes
Group size: Maximum 12, minimum 5

Costs: € 17,00 per person

Note: Activity might get cancelled if weather conditions are too adverse.

Join an expert-level guided Blue City Walk to discover the hidden biodiversity beneath Leiden’s historic canals with Aaf Verkade, the knighted visionary behind underwater research in the Leiden canals: Onder water in Leiden. You’ll explore innovative citizen science approaches to water quality assessment, habitat restoration, and invasive species management, all informed by snorkel-based observations and long-term monitoring. For over a decade, Aaf has led community-driven observational fish-monitoring research, training volunteers to document fish species, crustaceans, and even freshwater turtles in urban waterways. This community has become very close-knit thanks to its many blue-green pilot-projects in the habitats they share with nature. It is a remarkable testament to the joint undertakings of institutions and citizens, by shaping long-lasting blue-green solutions in an urban setting. This immersive experience is ideal for conservation biology specialists interested in urban aquatic ecosystems, participatory research, and adaptive management strategies. Gain fresh insights into the interplay of biodiversity, community engagement, education, grassroot organizations and urban water stewardship to help shape the future of blue-green urban nature.

Guided tour of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Date: Monday 6 July, 13:00 – 14:00
Location: Ticket office Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
Lange St. Agnietenstraat 10, 2312 WC Leiden
Duration: 60 minutes
Group size: Maximum 45 (if fewer than 5 persons sign up, the tour may be cancelled)

Costs: € 20,00 per person

Photos: © Fred Ernst voor Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Step into the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave and discover how centuries of curiosity, experimentation, and scientific breakthroughs have shaped the world we aim to conserve today. This award-winning museum brings the history of medicine, biology, and technology to life through hands-on exhibits and stories of explorers who pushed the boundaries of knowledge. With interactive displays, surprising artifacts, and engaging storytelling, the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave offers both inspiration and fun. After the tour, you can of course explore the museum further with your ticket.

Urban Portraits: Sensing More-Than-Human Cities

Urban life often distances us from the ecological relationships that sustain and shape our environments. As access to nature and everyday encounters with nonhuman life become more limited, so does our collective sense of stewardship and care. This workshop invites participants to re-engage with these connections by creating more-than-human portraits of the city using cyanotype printing and texture mapping. Working in pairs, participants will explore Leiden to gather loose plants, textures, and found objects. These elements will then be transformed into portraits that imagines the more-than-human city. Together, we will reflect on what these portraits reveal about belonging, visibility, and the right to the city.

Nature in the City Walk

From overlooked weeds pushing through pavement to carefully planted trees, cities are bustling with life if one knows where to look. On this walk, we will focus on the trees around us, our quiet green neighbours, exploring how some of them came to be here and how they adapt to city life. Along the way, we will also keep an eye out for signs of urban wildlife, from pigeons to parakeets, of course, and bats at dusk if we are lucky. We will look at how plants and animals manage to live in a very busy, highly built environment, discuss what they offer to people and wildlife, and the surprising ways nature flourishes in an increasingly urbanised world.

Walking and talking urban green space multifunctionality

Date: Wednesday 8 July, 18:00 – 19:00
Location: Main entrance Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden
Duration: 60 minutes
Group size: Maximum 20, minimum 5 (if fewer sign up, the walk might get cancelled)

Costs: € 10,00 per person

Photos: credit Leiden University

Urban green is a do-all solution to many challenges for humans, but also a habitat for biodiversity. In this short, guided walk we’ll explore some different urban green spaces, the invertebrates they house and the benefits they provide to the people. During the walk, you are encouraged to participate actively through both using sensors and your own experience to value the different types of urban green spaces in Leiden.