Conferences - ECOHYDRAULICS

International Symposium on Ecohydraulics (ISE)

Launched in 1994, the International Symposia on Ecohydraulics aim to provide a platform for scientists and engineers worldwide to discuss cutting-edge scientific progress, compare and evaluate state-of-the-art technical methods, and recommend them to end users. A complete list of past ISE conferences is provided on the IAHR website. Aspiring future Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) should keep an eye on the IAHR news stream. Calls for Letters of Intent from aspiring LOCs are typically announced 5-7 months before the next ISE.

ISE 2028: Host to Be Announced

The 17th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics is scheduled for 2028, but the host has not yet been announced. The IAHR Ecohydraulics Technical Committee Leadership Team invited Letters of Intent from the global community to serve as the Local Organizing Committee; that call closed on 31 March 2025 and the Leadership Team is evaluating the proposals received. Letters of intent are reviewed against three criteria: (1) preference for proposals from continents that have not hosted an ISE in recent years; (2) quality of the scientific concept; and (3) likelihood of successful organization and contribution to advancing the goals of the ecohydraulics community. The ISE typically runs from Sunday to Friday, with workshops and meetings on Sunday, sessions Monday through Friday, and a field trip on Wednesday. Questions can be directed to the TC Chair and Vice Chair, Prof. Michele Mossa and Prof. Daniele Tonina. Watch the IAHR news stream for the host announcement.

ISE 2026

The 16th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics will be held at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 16-20 August 2026 at the Swisstech Convention Center on the EPFL campus. The last time an ISE was held physically in Europe was in 2014 in Trondheim, so it will have been more than a decade. The LOC is led by Prof. Dr. Eng. Paolo Perona and Dr. sc. Giovanni De Cesare. EPFL offers abundant, high-quality conference facilities, excellent infrastructure, and easy access around the city, country, and Europe. Visit theofficial conference website at ise2026.epfl.ch, and watch the LOC’s introduction video on the @ecohydraulics9581 channel on YouTube.

Past Symposia

The ISE series grew out of the International Symposium on Habitat Hydraulics first held in 1994 and has been organized roughly every two years since. The list below is in reverse-chronological order; organizers and host institutions are noted where known.

2024 - Québec City, Canada. 15th ISE, held jointly with the International Conference on Fish Passage (ise-fp2024.org).
2022 - Nanjing, China. 14th ISE, hosted by Hohai University.
2020 - Online. 13th ISE; the planned in-person symposium was held virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 - Tokyo, Japan. 12th ISE, convened jointly by IAHR and the International Society for River Science (ISRS).
2016 - Melbourne, Australia. 11th ISE.
2014 - Trondheim, Norway. 10th ISE, hosted by NTNU and SINTEF — the last ISE held physically in Europe before 2026.
2012 - Vienna, Austria. 9th ISE, hosted by BOKU University.
2010 - Seoul, South Korea. 8th ISE.
2009 - Concepción, Chile. 7th ISE.
2007 - Christchurch, New Zealand. 6th ISE.
2004 - Madrid, Spain. 5th ISE.
2002 - Cape Town, South Africa. 4th ISE, themed “Environmental Flows for River Systems.”
1999 - Salt Lake City, USA. 3rd ISE.
1997 - Fremantle, Australia. Second International Symposium on Ecohydraulics (the parallel “ecology and engineering” track of the early series).
1996 - Québec City, Canada. 2nd International Symposium on Habitat Hydraulics.
1994 - Trondheim, Norway. 1st International Symposium on Habitat Hydraulics, where the series began.