ECMWF will mark its 50th anniversary next year with three weeks of events taking place in our three duty stations in Bonn, Germany, 7–11 April; Bologna, Italy, 15–19 September; and Reading, UK, 1–5 December.
Each week will offer a range of workshops and seminars to celebrate our collaboration across the globe, and particularly with our Member and Co-operating States. They will also see the publication of papers showcasing key areas of our work.
The events will be an opportunity to celebrate the openness of our community, and the willingness to help and support each other.
Achievements over five decades
The anniversary year will highlight what we and our community have achieved over the last 50 years. It will also look at the challenges and opportunities related to weather forecasting facing our community and society at large.
Recent progress has been both scientific and technological. Our partners at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have provided the latest satellite data that are crucial to improving weather forecasting. In collaboration with our Member States, we have also made rapid advances in opening up the world of machine learning to our purposes.
We would like the year to be an opportunity for our community to come together and take stock of where we are and where we need to be in order to address the challenges of predicting severe and extreme weather.
In addition, ECMWF has been tracking climate change and atmospheric composition through the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). It is also participating in the EU’s Destination Earth initiative to create a digital twin, or replica, of the Earth system. These services are intimately connected to our weather forecasting activities.
Over the last few years, ECMWF has set up new sites in Bonn and Bologna in addition to Reading, and the anniversary events will be spread over those three locations.
Three key weeks
Each week will offer a range of workshops and seminars, as well as papers showcasing areas of work at ECMWF.
- Bonn, 7–11 April: This will be about key aspects of our science, with workshops on modelling and data assimilation as well as a link to our Copernicus services, and the Annual Seminar highlighting the question of forecasting in a changing climate.
- Bologna, 15–19 September: There will be a strong focus on our users, with the Using ECMWF’s Forecasts (UEF) event, but also on our technology, with the biennial workshop on high-performance computing (HPC Workshop). This will also be an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the EU-funded Destination Earth initiative and in ECMWF’s Code for Earth innovation programme.
- Reading, 1–5 December: This will focus on machine learning, especially on joint endeavours with the national meteorological services of our Member States. A 50th anniversary symposium will also be held.
We want 2025 to be an opportunity to express our gratitude to all who have worked at ECMWF or contributed through schemes such as Fellowships and graduate trainee programmes; visiting scientists and our partners in academia and the private sector; and above all our Member and Co-operating States, who have been part of this journey for five decades.
Information about Bonn events
Registration for the Bonn week is open, and we would like to see as many of you as possible. Five events will take place simultaneously during the week:
All workshop participants will have the opportunity to attend the opening plenary on Monday afternoon, 7 April, and the closing plenary on Friday morning, 11 April. Some workshops will have joint sessions with the Annual Seminar.
The events will take place at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and at the Gustav Stresemann Institute (GSI).
For further information, see the ‘Anniversary’ page.