Sustainability at IUMS 2026

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Sustainability at IUMS 2026

IUMS 2026 and the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, also called the Global Goals) are 17 goals with 169 targets that all UN Member States have agreed to work toward achieving by 2030. They set out a plan for a world without poverty, hunger, and disease.

At IUMS 2026, we believe that academic congresses must champion global responsibility. True sustainability extends beyond venue operations—it is fundamentally embedded in scientific discovery.

Across our scientific program, the global microbiology community is actively presenting research that directly impacts the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Click the image of each goal for more information.

Contributions you can make as an IUMS Congress Delegate:

As individuals and as a community, we can and should individually contribute to protecting the earth and its natural systems and resources and to sustaining the natural ecological balance of the ecosystem. Here is what we encourage you to do during IUMS 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal:

  • Use the mobile app to check the program details and show your e-tickets instead of printing.
  • Use more sustainable ways of traveling to and around Lisbon which is a very walkable city, with many public transportation options, including more then 200km of cycle lanes. If you are coming to the city from within Portugal, we advise you to choose a train instead of a flight.
  • Opt for reusable mugs and bottles. We will ensure enough water fountains around the venue, don’t forget your bottle!
  • Reduce the waste you generate and separate disposal.
  • Opt for a vegetarian option when available and possible.

Good Health & Wellbeign

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

What we are doing in 2026

  • The scientific program is planned with breaks for mental and physical well-being
  • Offer healthy food and drink options, options to have a break in the fresh-air, by the Tagus river
  • We encourage all participants to join the sunrise run or walk to Belem and back
  • Provide family rooms, for parents with babies to attend the congress
  • Provide peaceful and quiet meditation or prayer rooms
  • We have selected the best hotels in the area, which are walking distance or along the river and tram line
  • Our scientific tracks actively dissect the overlapping boundaries between human, animal, and environmental microbiology to secure global public health infrastructures and counter pathogen emergence.

Featured Scientific Sessions:

  • One Health (Nov 4, 11:30 – 13:00) – Addressing how cross-species transmission pathways interface with changing global climates.
  • Emerging Diseases and Pandemic Preparedness (Nov 4, 10:00 – 11:00) – Mapping translational biosecurity measures and rapid clinical responses.
  • Epidemiology and Public Health / Viruses, Epidemiology & Their Public Health Impact (Nov 4 & Nov 6) – Deploying real-time global genomic surveillance networks to neutralize antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and transmission vectors.

Quality Education

Inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

What we are doing in 2026

  • Delegates are welcomed as participants, who contribute equally to the scientific and educational content of the congress
  • Adhere to an inclusive faculty, with equal representation of all sexes, races, and different parts of the world
  • Offer registration grants for participants from low & low-income countries
  • Offer high-scored abstract registration grants for early-career researchers
  • We plan scientific engaged discussions throughout the congress, aiming for participants to ask and debate topics, challenge and exchange knowledge and expertise
  • Open session suggestions to the public
  • Provide learning materials, such as access to Congress Application for months after the congress
  • Have free open access to all abstracts presented at the congress & post-congress
  • Everyone is welcomed to submit an abstract on their research
  • All registered participants are welcomed to the Welcome Ceremony networking event in addition to the networking opportunities and knowledge exchange through social media platforms, online communities, and post-congress resource sharing

  • We are establishing dedicated training frameworks and collaborative knowledge networks to empower the next generation of scientific educators and bridge the gap between academic research and public scientific baseline literacy.

    Featured Scientific Sessions:

    • Panel Discussion: Microbial Literacy (Nov 5, 16:40 – 17:40) – Formulating communication models to introduce microbial sciences into civic education, public policy, and foundational schooling.

Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

What we are doing in 2026

  • Committees and Faculty have a balanced gender representation
  • Encourage acceptance of low & low-middle countries’ registration grants equally to all genders

Clean Water & Sanitation

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

What we are doing in 2026

  • The program will discuss and debate solutions for climate change

    Featured Scientific Sessions:

    • Aquatic Microbiology (Nov 6, 14:30 – 16:00) – Unveiling new physiological and genetic breakthroughs mapping out how prokaryotes, viruses, and algae adapt to changing systems, regulate water purity, and neutralize biological hazards across marine and freshwater boundaries.

  • We offer participants filtered water throughout the congress
  • We work with our local catering partner to ensure the use of local and seasonal products, to reduce the transportation footprint of the congress
  • We aim in reducing single-use plastic cutlery and serving dishes for meals

Reduced Inequalities

Reduce inequality within and among countries 

What we are doing in 2026

We recognize that advanced scientific research can suffer from geographic disparities. IUMS 2026 provides a visible international platform to decentralize data ownership, advocate for equitable global funding models, and highlight critical insights originating outside traditional high-income research hubs.

  • We offer subsidized registration fees for early career researchers and participants from low & low-middle income countries
  • Offer unrestricted registration grants to participants from low & low-middle income countries
  • Allow exchange of knowledge by visiting research institutions in the area of the convention center and/or committee members’ institutions to make meaningful connections and bridges between continent.

  • Featured Scientific Sessions:

    • Panel Discussion: Data from the Global South (Nov 6, 16:40 – 17:40) – A vital, cross-disciplinary strategy session discussing systemic barriers to publishing, data-sharing equities, and accelerating open-access genomic resource allocation to low-and-middle-income countries.

Sustainable Cities & Communities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable 

What we are doing in 2026

Lisbon was awarded the title of European Green Capital in 2020, the first capital in southern Europe to receive this distinction. The city is committed to carbon neutrality by 2030 and has implemented the Lisbon 2030 Climate Action Plan, which focuses on expanding renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency, and promoting solar energy.

Lisboa has adopted a Waste Management Strategy for 2030, aiming to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste in line with circular economy principles. Key initiatives include:

• Reducing food waste in restaurants and supermarkets
• Eliminating single-use plastics
• Promoting repair workshops and second-hand markets
• Enhancing selective waste collection and composting programs
• Combating littering and illegal dumping

With 200km of cycling routes, the city operates an electric bike-sharing program, Gira, integrated into public transportation, offering free access to residents under 23 and over 65.

The metro system sources 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, achieving carbon neutrality, while the municipal bus company, Carris, is transitioning to an electric fleet, with plans for a zero-emission bus fleet by 2040.

Lisbon has also installed fast-charging centers for electric vehicles and plans to expand public EV chargers across the city.

Urbanization radically alters microbial ecology, which can introduce severe systemic vulnerabilities. Our program provides urban planner frameworks, land-use studies, and bioremediation techniques to defend urban soil and civil populations against climate extremes.

Featured Scientific Sessions:

  • Panel Discussion: Microbes for Climate Change (Nov 5, 16:40 – 17:40) – Showcasing scalable, microbial bio-engineering interventions designed to bolster climate adaptation and ecosystem resilience in urban communities.
  • Microorganisms and Climate Change (Nov 6, 14:30 – 16:00) – Assessing how rapid urbanization, land-use reallocations, and extreme weather events alter municipal habitats, soil fertility, and disease vector footprints.

Responsible Consumption & Production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 

What we are doing in 2026

  • We organize the IUMS congress according to the 4 principles: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle as we recognize the environmental impact that large-scale events like the IUMS Congress can have, thus sustainable production and consumption are one of our top priorities in organizing the Congress.
  • We are working with local suppliers to ensure maximum positive impact
  • We work to reduce food waste at the Congress, we will collect lunch requests from participants in advance and participants will pay for what they need, instead of increasing registration fees to include meals which may go to waste
  • A mini-program will be printed instead of the full program, and the rest of the information will be shared digitally via the Congress App
  • We will have limited printed promotional materials for IUMS in favor of digital alternatives
  • We are using local partners and less economically damaging product alternatives
  • Encouraging all of our exhibitors to participate in this initiative by reducing single-use giveaways at their booths and have sustainable booths
  • Participants’ badge collections and recycling will be done at the end of the Congress

  • We are highlighting revolutionary green biochemical platforms designed to fully replace traditional fossil fuels, handle complex municipal waste management, and safely preserve existing natural genetic biodiversity for a circular bioeconomy.

  • Featured Scientific Sessions:

    • Bioeconomy and Microbial Biotechnology (Nov 6, 11:30 – 13:00) – Showcasing sustainable bioprocesses, including deploying engineered whole-cell yeast platforms to produce clean furan derivatives, bio-based chemical platforms, and eco-friendly decontamination protocols.

    • Ex Situ Preservation and Utilisation of Microbial Diversity (Nov 6, 14:30 – 16:00) – Pioneering operational models for bio-banking, genetic security, and responsible industrial consumption of biological resources.