All eyes on Brighton

It's been two decades since the most significant psychological event in Europe has come to our shores and, following the tumultuous few years that the UK has had with Brexit, it's the perfect opportunity for us to show what can be achieved in psychology through working closely with our colleagues from the continent.

Planning this event has been years in the making, so we're getting ever-more excited as we move closer to July, and I'm hoping that we'll see lots of our members taking the opportunity to join us and our colleagues from psychological associations across Europe.

Submissions have now closed, and we were delighted to have received hundreds of excellent ones that are currently being formed into a three-day programme, with submissions arriving from each corner of Europe – and beyond.

One of the benefits of an event such as this is how it encourages working across borders, both geographical and within our discipline itself, and I'm particularly fascinated to learn how psychologists are tackling the four interdisciplinary themes.

These are all areas of focus for the society, and subjects where we can have real impact as we develop our evidence-base and make the psychological case for change.

We saw how psychology in the UK stepped up to the mark during the pandemic, and how our members came together to produce guidance and advice for people living through an unprecedented event.

ECP 2023 now gives us the opportunity to reflect on that, what we've learned, and how psychologists from different backgrounds and cultures view the profound impact that the pandemic, and the changes to our lives and working practices it caused, have had on people.

The poverty and inequalities theme is one where we've seen the impact that psychologists can have through our recent policy campaigns on poverty and latterly social class, while climate change and sustainability is one of the biggest threats facing our world right now.

Neither are issues that can be solved by one discipline, or indeed one nation, on their own, and ECP 2023 offers the opportunity for psychologists to set out the role they have to play in tackling the biggest issues internationally.

Finally, the conflict, diplomacy and peace theme is one that is sadly more relevant today in Europe than it has been for generations, and is sure to inspire work that is as vital as it is poignant.

If that's not enough to whet the appetite, several of our member networks will also be hosting their own events at the conference, and ten keynote speakers will be spread across three days, offering perspectives from some of psychology's most influential voices.

We want to make attending ECP 2023 as easy as we can for our members, so have announced a number of offers that you can take advantage of.

Tickets remain available at a reduced rate until 14 May through the ECP booking website, and BPS members who purchase a three-day congress ticket will receive their 2024 society membership free of charge, as a gesture of thanks for your commitment.