European Skeptics Congress
European Skeptics Congresses – a series of congresses now supported by the European Council of Skeptical Organisations, in which skeptical organisations from many different European countries participate. They have been held ever since 1989. The conferences are often held in the month of September, and may last from two up to four days. The ECSO was formed at the 6th ESC on 25 September 1994 in Ostend, Belgium. Since its foundation, the ECSO co-ordinates in the organisation of new ESCs that take place every other year, and is hosted by a different member organisation each time. Skeptical organisations that are non-ECSO members may also send their delegations. Past ESCs are enumerated below.
1st European Skeptics Congress
Date: 5–7 May 1989Place: Bad Tölz, West Germany
2nd European Skeptics Congress
Date: 10–11 August 1990Place: Brussels, Belgium
3rd European Skeptics Congress
Date: 4–5 October 1991Place: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
4th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 17–19 July 1992Place: Saint-Vincent, Italy
5th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 29–31 August 1993Place: Keele, UK
Theme: "Science for Life: Health, Medicine and Well-Being". Organised by the UK Skeptics.
6th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 23–25 September 1994Place: Ostend, Belgium
Theme: "Science, Pseudoscience and the Environment".
During this congress the European Council of Skeptical Organisations was formed.
7th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 4–7 May 1995Place: Roßdorf, Germany
8th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 4–7 September 1997Place: A Coruña, Spain
9th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 17–19 September 1999Place: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Hosted by Stichting Skepsis
10th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 7–9 September 2001Place: Prague, Czech Republic
Theme: "Rise and Development of Paranormal Beliefs in Eastern Europe"
11th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 5–7 September 2003Place: London, UK
12th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 13–15 October 2005Place: Brussels, Belgium
Theme: "Pseudoscience, Alternative Medicine and the Media"
13th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 7–9 September 2007Place: Dublin, Ireland
Theme: "The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response" 100+ attendees.
14th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 17–19 September 2010Place: Budapest, Hungary
, J. Beth Ciesielski, Michael Heap, György Kampis, Amardeo Sarma, István Vágó, :hu:Sándor Klára|Klára Sándor, Massimo Polidoro, Iván Almár, :it:Luigi Garlaschelli|Luigi Garlaschelli.
Back row, from left to right: Gergely Röst, Andy Wilson, Wim Betz, Tomasz Witkowski, Attila Nyerges, Maciej Zatonski, Simon Singh, Gerald de Jong, :de:Klaus Schmeh|Klaus Schmeh, Joe Nickell.
15th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 22–25 August 2013Place: Stockholm, Sweden
Theme: "ESCape to Clarity!"
16th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 10–13 September 2015Place: London, UK
Organised by Association for Skeptical Enquiry and Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit
17th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 22-24 September 2017Place: Wrocław, Poland
Organised by Klub Sceptyków Polskich and Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos
The speakers:
- Deborah Hyde — The Restless Ghost of Wroclaw
- Diego Fontanive — Meta-Memetic Thinking and Skepticism as a Meme
- Eran Segev – The Secrets of an Effective Skeptical Organization
- Gerald Ostdiek – Believing in Biology: The Religious Imagination of Living Things
- Holm Gero Hümmler — Relative Quantum Nonsense: Don't be Fooled by False Physics!
- Jakub Kroulik – Exorcism by Hypnosis
- James Randi
- Konrad Szołajski — The Battle with Satan in Poland
- Konrad Talmont-Kamiński — Cognition and the Science/Religion Debate
- Leo Igwe — "Robber Goat", "Bird Woman" and "Cat Woman": How Religion is Hampering Scientific Thinking in Africa
- Marcin Rotkiewicz — Rational Thinking vs. Moral Disgust: Why the Discussion about GMOs Is So Hard and the Scientific Evidence Is Unable to Convince the Public
- Mariusz Błochowiak — Rational justification for the existence of the devil and the exorcism
- Mark Lynas — Why anti-GMO activists are the new climate deniers
- Massimo Polidoro — An interview with James Randi
- Ovidiu Covaciu — How the Romanian anti-vaccine movement threatens Europe
- Petr Jan Vinš – A Priest's View
- Scott Lilienfeld – Tunnel Vision: Confirmation Bias from Courtroom to Boardroom to Bedroom
- Sofie Vanthournout — Talking about Evidence in the Post-Truth Era
- Susan Blackmore — Positive Scepticism: The new science of out-of-body experiences
- Susan Gerbic — We Marched for Science – Now What?
- Tomáš Moravec – How Rational are the Fears of GMOs?
- Zbynek Vybiral — Why Psychology Is Not Only in a Replication Crisis
18th European Skeptics Congress
Date: 30 August - 1 September 2019Place: Ghent, Belgium
- Norbert Aust — Informationsnetzwerk Homöopathie
- Mathijs Beckers — How skepticism helped me become pro-nuclear
- Johan Braeckman — Con men in the art world
- Vanessa Charland — Near-death experiences: actual considerations
- Ovidiu Covaciu — The antivaccination activists, misinformation and the damage done
- Edzard Ernst — The battle against SCAM. Are we winning?
- Farah Focqaert — How con men operate
- André Fougeroux — Is it still possible to rationally address modern agriculture ?
- Lieven Gheysen
- Michael Heap — Anomalistic Psychology in the Classroom
- Inge Jeandarme — Dealing with psychopathy
- Catherine de Jong — Chairperson for the session The never-ending struggle against quackery
- Michel Naud — Science and decision: towards restoring scientific integrity in policy making
- Jan Willem Nienhuys — Descent into one’s own illusion
- Geerdt Magiels — Chairperson for the session on Anomalistic Psychology
- Christine Mohr — When using magicians to study how paranormal beliefs come about
- Iida Ruishalme — Energy and decarbonisation
- Amardeo Sarma — Chairperson for the session on Green Skepticism
- Kavin Senapathy — GMOs, modern agriculture, and the People
- Lukas Stalpers — Vitamin B12 clinics: An example of a hype that results in clinics with quackery
- Tim Trachet — Chairperson for the session on 30 Years of European Skepticism
- Dirk Vogelaers — Lyme disease: An example of a real disease misused by quacks
- Wietse Wiels — Co-chairing the session The never-ending struggle against quackery
- David Zaruk — Reason has left the building: How the emotional need for certainty and safety has handcuffed research and technology
- Sophie van der Zee — How con men operate in cyberspace