Following our 25th NBN Conference, which was our new CEO Gareth Thomas’ first, we are pleased to share Gareth’s reflections on the day.
The 2025 NBN Conference was one of our strongest yet…not my words, but the feedback from attendees across the network. The SS Great Britain made a fitting venue to look back on 25 years of the NBN, and more importantly, to look ahead at what the next chapter needs to be.
Several messages came through clearly.
First: people want the NBN to feel closer to the ground. Partnerships, trust, and local capacity matter just as much as the data itself; people come before platforms if we want lasting impact.
Second: the NBN Trust’s role as the UK’s species-data infrastructure is valued, but we now need to strengthen the connective tissue across the network…stronger relationships with recorders, schemes, NGOs, local projects, and national bodies.
Third: there is real energy for doing more together. From iNaturalistUK insights, to the The Rock Pool Project’s community science, to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’s interest in early-warning systems for pests, the opportunities for collaboration are growing.
Lastly: we need to strengthen the UK’s biodiversity infrastructure with sustainable long-term funding; without it, we cannot deliver credible reporting, credible decisions or credible outcomes.
For me, the takeaway is quite simple. The NBN Trust has the authority and the infrastructure, but the next phase is about connection: being present locally, strengthening partnerships, and building a system that works for the whole network. I’m looking forward to continuing this work with many of you over the coming months.
Feedback
If you attended the NBN Conference, thank you for joining us – we hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did. We’d greatly appreciate your feedback, so please fill out our delegate questionnaire, which should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you!