Ireland’s Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) will welcome the European/International Congress on Obesity (ECO/ICO) in May 2020, having secured the conference just six months after it was awarded a Silver Healthy Venue accreditation by the World Obesity Federation. (The SEC in Glasgow was the first venue in the world to be accredited under the World Obesity Federation’s Healthy Venue Awards programme, also achieving silver status in 2016).
The CCD now becomes the second venue in the world to become a Silver Healthy Venue and worked in partnership with Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin Convention Bureau, the Association for the Study of Obesity Ireland (ASOI) and conference ambassador Dr Grace O’Malley to win the International Congress on Obesity bid for Ireland.
The conference is expected to deliver €3.2m for the local Irish economy.
Euan Woodward, executive director of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) commented: “This is a rare opportunity to gather obesity specialists from all over the world to debate the key issues in our field and develop solutions to one of the most important and pressing global health challenges. Our Irish colleagues presented a dynamic bid, supported by many local and national stakeholders, which made the decision to award the congress to Dublin an easy one. We anticipate major developments in our field over the next few years, and look forward to facilitating global collaboration in Dublin in 2020.”
Welcoming the news, Stephen Meehan, CEO of The CCD added: “We are excited to host this conference after working closely with the EASO and World Obesity Federation to ensure we met the criteria and we look forward to offering healthy and active choices for attendees in May 2020.”
The four-day conference, which looks set to attract up to 2,000 delegates to Dublin city, will take place in early summer 2020, bringing together EASO and the World Obesity Federation, for the first time.
