78^th SWCS International Annual Conference
August 6-9, 2023
Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center
Des Moines, Iowa

This year’s conference theme, “Healthy Land, Clean Water: Cultivating a Legacy of Conservation,” challenges us to envision the world we want to leave for those who follow us. At this year’s event, we will share successes and embrace lessons learned so that we can move toward our natural resource goals with greater speed, efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusivity. We will examine the traditions that have both built and challenged our ability to advance the conservation movement while exploring the new and necessary capacity, innovation, and partnerships needed to regenerate our land, water and other natural resources.

The conference will assemble a diverse, multigenerational conservation community of researchers, practitioners, industry leaders, farmers, and students from around the world in Des Moines, Iowa, where the Soil and Water Conservation Society was founded 78 years ago and is still headquartered today. The agenda will feature the latest ideas, technologies, and practices, and foster a dialogue around their adoption. Through workshops, sessions, symposia, tours, exhibits, and demonstrations, cutting-edge research and practice developments in soil health, water quality, and resource management will be shared. Scientists and practitioners will present their work at the field, farm, and watershed scale across an array of private and public arenas. Applications of social theories and examples of successful outreach and education will enable attendees to identify ways to scale up localized successes. Participants will also hear about policy and economic developments that build a framework to increase conservation adoption and support future generations.