European Skeptics Congresses (ESCs) – a series of congresses now supported by the

European Council of Skeptical Organisations The European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) is an umbrella of skeptical organisations in Europe. Goals Founded on 25 September 1994, the ECSO aims to co-ordinate activities of European organisations and individuals that aim at critic ...

(ECSO), 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 Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Belgium. Since its foundation, the ECSO co-ordinates in the organisation of new ESCs that take place (on average) 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.

ESC 1, Germany 1989

Date: 5–7 May Place: Bad Tölz

ESC 2, Belgium 1990

Date: 10–11 August Place:

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

ESC 3, Netherlands 1991

Date: 4–5 October Place:

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

ESC 4, Italy 1992

Date: 17–19 July Place: Saint-Vincent

ESC 5, United Kingdom 1993

Date: 29–31 August Place:

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles (5 km) west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 ro ...

Theme: "Science for Life: Health, Medicine and Well-Being". Organised by the UK Skeptics.

ESC 6, Belgium 1994

Date: 23–25 September Place:

Theme: "Science, Pseudoscience and the Environment". During this congress the

was formed.

ESC 7, Germany 1995

Date: 4–7 May Place:

Roßdorf Roßdorf is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of 12,619 (as of 2020). It is situated 8 km east of Darmstadt. Geographic Situation Neighbouring Towns and Municipalities Roßdorf ...

ESC 8, Spain 1997

Date: 4–7 September Place:

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

ESC 9, Netherlands 1999

Date: 17–19 September Place:

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

Hosted by Stichting Skepsis

ESC 10, Czech Republic 2001

Date: 7–9 September Place:

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Theme: "Rise and Development of Paranormal Beliefs in Eastern Europe"

ESC 11, United Kingdom 2003

Date: 5–7 September Place:

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

ESC 12, Belgium 2005

Date: 13–15 October Place:

Theme: "Pseudoscience, Alternative Medicine and the Media"

ESC 13, Ireland 2007

Date: 7–9 September Place:

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Theme: "The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response" 100+ attendees.

ESC 14, Hungary 2010

Date: 17–19 September Place:

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

ESC 15, Sweden 2013

Date: 22–25 August Place: Stockholm Theme: "ESCape to Clarity!"

ESC 16, United Kingdom 2015

Date: 10–13 September Place:

Organised by

Association for Skeptical Enquiry The Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE) is a skeptical organisation in the United Kingdom. History ASKE was founded in 1997 by a steering committee of several people, including Anne Corden, Michael Heap, Marky O’Leary, Wayne Spencer, T ...

and Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit

ESC 17, Poland 2017

Date: 22–24 September Place:

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Organised by

Klub Sceptyków Polskich Klub Sceptyków Polskich or KSP (English: ''Polish Skeptics Club'' or ''Polish Sceptics Club'') is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation actively engaged in the promotion of critical thinking, scientific skepticism and scientific methods. ...

and

Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos (English: ''Czech Skeptics' Club Sisyfos'') is a Czech skeptical nonprofit organisation founded in 1994, headquartered in Prague. Its primary goal and mission is to spread and defend the findings and results of conte ...

The speakers: *

Deborah Hyde Deborah Hyde (; born 1965) is a British sceptic, folklorist, cultural anthropologist, Ufologist, fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and editor-in-chief of '' The Skeptic''. She writes and lectures extensively about superstition, c ...

– ''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 (Including People)'' * Holm Gero Hümmler – ''Relative Quantum Nonsense: Don't be Fooled by False Physics!'' * Jakub Kroulik – ''Exorcism by Hypnosis'' *

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skepticism, scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific cla ...

* Konrad Szołajski – ''The Battle with Satan in Poland'' * Konrad Talmont-Kamiński – ''Cognition and the Science/Religion Debate'' *

Leo Igwe Leo Igwe (born 26 July 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenti ...

– ''"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 Massimo Polidoro (born 10 March 1969) is an Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, and co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (CICAP). Early lif ...

– ''An interview with

'' * Ovidiu Covaciu – ''How the Romanian anti-vaccine movement threatens Europe'' * Petr Jan Vinš – ''A Priest's View'' *

Scott Lilienfeld Scott O. Lilienfeld (December 23, 1960 – September 30, 2020) was a professor of psychology at Emory University and advocate for evidence-based treatments and methods within the field. He is known for his books '' 50 Great Myths of Popular Psy ...

– ''Tunnel Vision: Confirmation Bias from Courtroom to Boardroom to Bedroom'' * Sofie Vanthournout – ''Talking about Evidence in the Post-Truth Era'' *

Susan Blackmore Susan Jane Blackmore (born 29 July 1951) is a British writer, lecturer, sceptic, broadcaster, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. Her fields of research include memetics, parapsychology, consciousness, and she is best known ...

– ''Positive Scepticism: The new science of out-of-body experiences'' *

Susan Gerbic Susan Gerbic (born 1962) is an American studio photographer who became known as a scientific skepticism activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums. A columnist for ''Skeptical Inquirer'', she is the co-founder of Monterey Cou ...

– ''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'' There were also free workshops organised for the public.

ESC 18, Belgium 2019

Date: 30 August – 1 September Place: Ghent * 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 Edzard Ernst (born 30 January 1948) is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, alleged ...

– ''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 (Aka. Gili) * Michael Heap – ''Anomalistic Psychology in the Classroom'' * Inge Jeandarme – ''Dealing with psychopathy'' *

Catherine de Jong Catharina Jantina (Catherine) de Jong (born 1956) is a Dutch anesthesiologist, drug rehab physician, intensivist, since 2009 board member of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK), between 2011–2015 as chair, and board member of the Europe ...

– 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 Amardeo Sarma (born 1955) is a Engineer's degree#Germany and Austria, qualified engineer for electrical engineering, electrical and telecommunications engineering, chair of the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaf ...

– 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''

ESC 19, Austria 2022

Date: 9–11 September Place: Billrothhaus,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

European Skeptics Congress 2022 01.jpg, European Skeptics Congress 2022 ESC2022 panel 01.jpg, ''

European Skeptics Podcast The ''European Skeptics Podcast'' (TheESP) is a weekly podcast recorded in English and hosted by three skeptics from several different European countries: András Gábor Pintér from Hungary, Pontus Böckman from Sweden and Annika Harrison f ...

'' members and

Kucek Hurbanova Klingenberg Kroulik 01.jpg, Matej Kucek, Olívia Hurbanová, Claire Klingenberg and Jakub Kroulik Hummler Kopton Steinhauser panel 01.jpg, Holm Hümmler, Johannes Kopton Georg Steinhauser Amardeo Sarma 02.jpg,

GWUP The Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) (English: ''Society for the Scientific Investigation of Pseudosciences'') is a non-profit organisation promoting scientific skepticism, headquartered in Roßdorf, ...

president,

Franck Ramus 02.jpg, Franck Ramus Massimo Pigliucci 02.jpg,

Massimo Pigliucci Massimo Pigliucci (; born January 16, 1964) is Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, former co-host of the '' Rationally Speaking Podcast'', and former editor in chief for the online magazine ''Scientia Salon''. He is a critic o ...

Stephen Law Pontus Bockman 01.jpg, Pontus Böckman and

Stephen Law Stephen Law (born 1960) is an English philosopher. He is currently Director of the Certificate in Higher and Education and Director of Philosophy at The Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford. Law was previously Reader in Ph ...

* Florian Aigner – ''Why we can trust in Science'' * David Badcock – ''The future – Rational European drug policies'' * Pontus Böckman – Chairperson for the session ''Skepticism in the Classroom'' * Giulia Conforto – Making science-based decisions in politics (Panel) *

Katalin Cseh Katalin Cseh (born 29 June 1988) is a Canadian-born Hungarian physician and politician. She was elected as a Momentum Movement (part of the Renew Europe party group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2019 parliamentary election. ...

– Making science-based decisions in politics (Panel) * Annika Harrison – ''The Skeptical Movement in Europe'' (Panel) * Alice Howarth – ''The Skeptical Movement in Europe'' (Panel) * Holm Hümmler – ''5G mobile networks – the conspiracy myths and what they really do'' *

– Chairperson for the session ''Towards Rational European Drug Policies'' * Gábor Kemenesi – ''The strange relationship of humanity and pandemics in the 21st century'' * Claire Klingenberg – Chairperson for the session ''The Skeptical Movement in Europe'' (Panel) * Johannes Kopton – ''“Natural” or sustainable? Agriculture Environmentalism at the Crossroads'' * Péter Krekó – ''The structure of pseudo-scientific revolutions'' *

– ''How to raise moral citizens'' * Philippe Longchamps – ''Teacher competence and the combat against misinformation'' * Elisa Palazzi – ''Communicating uncertainty in the science of climate change'' * Kellie C. Payne – Making science-based decisions in politics (Panel) *

– ''Skepticism as a way of life'' * András Gábor Pintér – Chairperson for the session ''Making science-based decisions in politics'' (Panel) *

– ''The Skeptical Movement in Europe'' (Panel) * Claudia Preis – Chairperson for Keynotes ''Why we can trust in Science'' and ''Skepticism as a way of life'' * Jan-Willem van Prooijen – ''Belief in conspiracy theories during a pandemic'' * Franck Ramus – ''What is evidence-based education?'' *

Sergio Della Sala Sergio Della Sala FRSE, FRSA, FBPsS (born 23/09/1955), trained as Medical Doctor, Clinical Neurologist and Neuropsychologist. He studied at University of Milan, University of Berkeley, MRC in Cambridge (UK). He held positions in Milan, Perth ...

– ''The reliable uncertainty of science'' *

– Chairperson for the session ''Conspiracy Theories'' * Ulrike Schiesser – ''Building bridges – how to talk to conspiracy believers'' * Anne Katrin Schlag – ''The truth about drugs: From misinformation to science'' * Georg Steinhauser – ''The hazards of radiation''

References

External links

* {{Skeptical conferences Scientific skepticism Skeptic organizations Articles containing video clips