EVENTS

The International Conference on Urban Pests is taking place in Sweden this year and the full agenda is now available.

The Organising Committee for the International Conference on Urban Pests (ICUP) 2025 has been working hard behind the scenes to finalise the exciting and varied programme for the ICUP 2025 event.

This includes plenary sessions, a wide choice of parallel sessions, a poster session, a workshop plus ample time to network and catch up with colleagues.

Held only every three years, and at locations around the world, this time it is the turn of Sweden to host the event.

Where: AF-Borgen, the Academic Society (Akademiska Föreningen) building in Lund, southern Sweden
When: 29 June to 2 July 2025

Dr Jette Knudsen, chairman of the Organising Committee said:

“We reviewed an extremely large number of abstracts submitted by potential authors from across the globe and we are delighted to be able to offer such a great variety of topics for delegates to pick from. This truly is an international conference on urban pests.

"It is also exciting to see the continued emergence of a newer generation of researchers alongside the well-established global experts.”

Exciting and varied programme

After a welcome reception on Sunday 29 June, the conference begins with a fascinating paper presented by Dr Erica von Essen from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden who will put forward programmes for human-wildlife interactions in today’s city landscapes.

In the opening plenary session on the second day, the large-scale monitoring of urban pests in cities feature when Dr Bjørn Arne Rukke from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo puts together the pieces in the puzzle for knowledge-based pest management.

Continuing the theme of cities, Dr Gabi Muller from the City of Zurich, Urban Pest Advisory Service, Switzerland will discuss why it is important to consider pest prevention when planning heat reduction and sponge city projects.

The plenary session on the third day promises something truly unique with presentations from two professors from the University of California, Riverside, USA. Professor Michael Rust will review the rise of urban entomology over the last 50 years.

Looking to the future, Professor Chow-Yang Lee will detail the emergence, and future, of urban entomology in Asia.

Parallel sessions to choose from

Presentations covering a whole variety of urban pest issues will be given in the parallel sessions and delegates can choose which to attend.

These include the challenge of modern urban pest management is resistance to rodenticides and insecticides and a special session on resistance covering German cockroaches, bed bugs, Norway rats and stored product insects.

A session on behavioural research covers houseflies, blackflies and bed bugs.

Of particular relevance to public health, a separate session on pathogens covers new research on pathogenic bacteria associated with rodents, Norway rats and ticks.

Artificial Intelligence as an identification tool for rodent activity, features in a further session that also includes online monitoring of rodents and detection of bed bugs.

Also to be covered are novel control methods, product storage and urban planning.

Workshop and poster session

Delegate participation also forms an important part at ICUP events.

This is not only mingling and networking during the breaks and non-formal sessions, but also at workshops. On the afternoon of 1 July there is a workshop on managing urban fauna with a focus on Norway rat management.

The whole afternoon on Tuesday 1 July is given over to poster presentations.

Whilst the posters will be on display for the whole event, during this specific poster session, authors will stand alongside their poster display enabling all those interested to discuss their research work face-to-face.

The detailed programme is now available and can be viewed on the ICUP website at ICUP 2025 programme.

Travelling, registration and hotel details

Located in southern Sweden, Lund is easy to reach. Delegates can fly to Copenhagen and then take the train to Lund. A train leaves every 15-20 minutes and takes approximately 40 minutes.

The registration fee includes the welcome reception on Sunday evening including light food and drinks. Lunches, coffee and tea breaks and fruit on Monday to Wednesday and the conference banquet on Tuesday evening.

A digital copy of conference proceedings to be given out when delegates register on arrival.

The price per participant shown is without 25 % VAT, which will be added when exiting registration. A special early bird rate is available until 31 March and students get a 50% reduction.

There are several hotels to choose from within walking distance of the conference venue at AF-Borgen.

Hotel and registration details can be viewed on the ICUP website at ICUP 2025 registration.

Source: Online