In 1994, y’see, Manchester hosted the two year “follow-up” to the Rio Earth Summit. It was called the “Global Forum” and it was not, so the story goes, a success. Hopefully this “Congress on Ecological Restoration” will have better outcomes.

Not quite sure the world needs another jamboree with experts flying in from everywhere to talk about sustainability (Isn’t that what skype is for?)  Still, it will raise £3.9 million for the ravenous beast known as the Local Economy… And it will keep some climatocrats happy and CV-pointed, so what’s not to love, eh?

See this –

Manchester has won its bid to host the 6th World Congress on Ecological Restoration, after ’team Manchester’ impressed decision-makers with the city’s sustainable credentials.

The five-day meeting, which takes place 23-27 August 2015, will bring 1,500 delegates to the city in a deal estimated to be worth £3.9m for the local economy.

The congress was secured through a partnership approach between Visit Manchester, Manchester Central, Manchester Metropolitan University’s (MMU) conference office, Meeting Makers, and was led by MMU’s Dr David Haley, as well as supporters including The Biospheric Project at the Manchester International Festival, Positive Impact and Creative Concern.

The Society of Ecological Restoration (SER) plans to use Manchester Central for the main assembly and MMU for pre-conference meetings. The SER praised both venues for their sustainability initiatives, which include Manchester Central being one of the first UK venues to achieve ISO20121 international accreditation, while MMU was recently ranked as the UK’s greenest university….