How to take part
Register to attend POLLEN2026
If you wish to attend, but do not have an accepted presentation or panel, then you will be pleased to know that registration is now open to all those who wish to attend POLLEN2026!
Head to the registration page for more information.
Explore the conference Programme
The POLLEN2026 programme page allows you to browse all the interesting panels. You can also log into your account and “star” any panels you are interested in while browsing the conference programme.
FAQs
Why is the meeting being held at the end of June / early July?
The dates were determined by room availability within our venues.
But you are meeting at the same time as the Ecological Economists, a Global Architecture Convention in Barcelona and you finish the evening before the Tour de France starts with time trials in Barcelona. This is not ideal.
Indeed, it is not. Our timings are determined by our venue availability. Had we gone later, it would be even hotter. Had we avoided one international gathering we would have hit another; there is always something going on here.
Why are you using both Universitat de Barcelona and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona?
While UB is the best place for the parallel sessions, UAB has the largest rooms required for our main plenaries. Please note that UAB is outside of Barcelona itself and do check the conference map for its location. Please ensure you come to the right venue on the right day. UAB is Tuesday, all other times we are at UB, in the middle of Barcelona.
Wait, so there are two Universities of Barcelona?
No, there is one UB and one UAB. But there are multiple Universities in the city, all of whom have helped to bring this conference together.
Is it easy to get between these places?
It should be and we provide detailed transport advice on the travel page. Please be aware that if hundreds of delegates try to use the same bus or train then it could get crowded.
What about actually getting to Barcelona itself?
We have prepared a guide to how to get there slowly. We realise that some people will not be able to avoid flying. Please be aware that you can come to the airports of Barcelona, Girona or Reus.
And how do I get from the airports to the conference venues?
We’d suggest following the options within Google/Apple maps.
Can’t I just attend virtually?
No, this is not a conference with virtual coverage but is a face-to-face gathering.
I see you are not providing food.
Not providing food allows for a slightly lower registration fee, but this decision is based on our venues not being well-suited to food provision for over 1000 delegates. The queues would be enormous. Around UB there are hundreds of small places to get a bite to eat, or you can pop into a supermarket or local market and pick up ingredients for a sandwich. We have long lunch breaks (2hrs at UB and 3 hrs at UAB) to give you sufficient time to get food. Remember that the drinks for the receptions on Tuesday and Thursday are included with your tickets.
I prefer POLLEN being small and cosy with enough people to allow for its own catering and so on.
You’re not alone. We had an extensive consultation over what to do about getting larger and have taken fairly drastic steps to keep numbers down. The Scientific Committee assessed 330 panel proposals and accepted only 230. The panel convenors received around 2000 submissions and accepted only 1400.
But that’s twice as large as normal!
To keep to the previous size would have entailed turning away hundreds of people: interest in Political Ecology has grown and POLLEN may need to grow with it.
And how are all these people going to find accommodation?
Accommodation in Barcelona is always expensive. We have put together a helpful page of accommodation information with some options on it. To our surprise there is also a newly opened student residence near UAB which is offering rooms at less than €50 per night at the time of writing, it is listed under the student residences
That’s ridiculously cheap. What’s the catch? Is it just a hole in ground somewhere?
No, it’s a newly completed hostel with lots of free rooms, available only for students. The catch is that it is not actually in Barcelona itself. Rather it is close to UAB, and so just a 30 minute walk to the plenaries on Tuesday. But it will take about 90 minutes to get into Barcelona itself for the parallel sessions on the other days. For many Barcelonans this is a normal commute.
So, what’s the point of even mentioning this accommodation ‘option’?
There has not been accommodation available for €50/night in Barcelona since before the euro was invented. It is a long way out, but then again, if lots of people are staying there, then the resulting camaraderie becomes part of the fun of the conference. Even more so given that this accommodation has swimming pools.
You mean we can stay out late at night in Barcelona and then all catch the train back together, and then sober off walking back to the station. I think I’m beginning to get it.
No, you’re not. You cannot stay out too late because the last train is at 11pm on weekdays.
Why not just set up some sort of room sharing and sofa sharing scheme?
We’ve looked into this. There are already good couch surfing websites listed on the accommodation page.
Will all these people actually fit in the venues you have secured?
Actually, we think not. The biggest rooms we could get at UAB are not big enough for the number of people who now want to come. We will be streaming the plenaries so you can listen remotely.
So I don’t actually have to go to the plenary at all, I can listen in from the beach?
Don’t be naughty.
In fact, I could just listen in from the pool at the student accommodation near UAB.
There are two pools – there is one on the rooftop as well. But now you are becoming even naughtier.
The timetabling is funny: why have sessions on Monday and Friday so that there are panels before and after the plenaries on Tuesday and Thursday?
We did not want to have loads of parallel sessions crammed into a few days, as this causes delegates to miss out on so much, because you can only go to one panel at a time. To cope with the demand, we have expanded into the Monday and Friday.
And why the three-hour lunch on Tuesday?
UAB has several cafeteria and restaurants, just be aware that the service can be a bit slow. And, if you want, you could take the train up to St Cugat (the neighbouring town) to find further options. It also gives us time to hold the extra workshops.
So, I can go and have a nice lunch in St Cugat and then come back for a workshop?
No. St Cugat is a 10-15-minute train ride away. All the workshops are on the UAB campus. If you are going to a workshop you will not be able to go into St Cugat and back in time. So instead, if you are going to a workshop, and the convenors of that workshop are not providing food, please bring a sandwich.
And where can I get a sandwich easily, re there supermarkets nearby?
There are hardly any of the supermarkets at UAB. Look for yourself on Google maps. There are large indoor markets in every Barcelona district. The main supermarket names to look for in Barcelona are Mercadona, Aldi, Carrefour, Caprabao, Condis or Consum. And you can get lovely sandwiches and bites to eat at many panaderia around town.
All of this seems rather complicated.
Conferences often are. But break this down into stages:
1. Register.
2. Find your accommodation. Consult the transport links to and from your accommodation carefully.
3. Check where you could get food from if you need to carry a lunch with you.
We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona soon.
POLLEN 2026 Organisers, March 2026
Contacting the organisers:
If you have any queries about the conference, please contact the organisers via email: pollen[at]nomadit.co.uk