From Living Data to Ecological Intelligence

Living Data 2027 is coming to Montréal!

Living Data 2027 is a joint initiative of Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), the International Barcode of Life (iBOL), and the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science (QCBS), together with international and local partners.

We are collecting and generating more biodiversity data than ever before. Field observations, DNA sequences, camera imagery, acoustic recordings, drone and satellite imagery, natural history collections, and community-based monitoring have transformed our ways to observe life on Earth and understand how it is changing. New technologies are providing powerful ways to connect, analyze and interpret these data. 

Data alone are not enough. 

The next challenge is to transform the wealth of biodiversity information accumulated through decades of collaborative work into the shared knowledge and expertise needed to understand ecological change, predict future scenarios, and make better decisions for nature and society.

Ecological intelligence is an emerging concept for our collective capacity to connect biodiversity observations, scientific information, technologies and knowledge systems to understand how the living world is changing - and to translate that understanding into meaningful action. 

Under the theme From Living Data to Ecological Intelligence, Living Data 2027 builds on the momentum of Living Data 2025, which brought together four global biodiversity networks and hundreds of scientists, practitioners and experts in Bogotá, Colombia. That meeting focused on improving how biodiversity data are shared, integrated, interpreted and used.

In Montréal, we want to take the conversation further.

How can we connect the data, infrastructures, technologies and communities we are building to create a collective intelligence capable of understanding and responding to ecological change for the benefit of nature and people?

Connect

Bring together biodiversity observations, data infrastructures, collections, technologies and different knowledge systems.

Understand

Use genomics, modelling, AI and other approaches to identify patterns, detect change and better understand ecological processes.

Predict

Build our ability to explore possible futures, identify risks and opportunities, and prepare for ecological change.

Act

Put biodiversity knowledge to work in conservation, restoration, policy and sustainable development.

Join the conversation

Living Data 2027 will bring together researchers, data scientists, collections professionals, ecologists, innovators, policymakers, conservation practitioners, Indigenous and local knowledge holders, and biodiversity networks from around the world.

Because the future of biodiversity science is not only about generating more data. It is about making better connections between data, knowledge, people and action - and making sure those connections reflect the places and communities where biodiversity is studied, understood, experienced and protected.

Join us in Montréal and help shape the next chapter of Living Data - and the role ecological intelligence can play in understanding and responding to a changing world.