CONGRESS. Gothenburg beat both Paris and Glasgow when researchers from International Continence Society recently voted on where to hold their world congress in 2019. Outstanding research at Sahlgrenska Academy, support from industry and a strong promotional video won their votes.
“Gothenburg is a fine city for congresses and the research that is taking place here and in the rest of Sweden is exceptional,” says Professor Ian Milsom from Sahlgrenska Academy, who will chair the meeting.
Incontinence is a big problem that affects half a billion people around the world. Once a year, top researchers gather from all over the world to exchange knowledge in this field. Last year they met in Montreal, and later this year they will gather in Tokyo. But in 2019 it will be the turn of the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre in Gothenburg to host the International Continence Society’s (ICS) annual congress.
It is unusual for a large international organisation to ask its members to vote on where they want to hold their world medical congress. But when ICS did just that, Gothenburg won almost half the votes. In other words, almost as many votes as its two competitors, Glasgow and Paris combined.
“Nine candidate cities applied and we chose three of them to present themselves on the website in a short video. I think the video that Gothenburg presented was the deciding factor,” says Ian Milsom.
Gothenburg’s candidacy was also supported by the SCA Group, which produces incontinence protection.
“SCA is a leading global company in hygiene and forestry. Because we have a large research and development unit in Gothenburg that specialises in incontinence, it is enormously valuable to us to have a world congress on the subject held here. It is also important considering the specialist research in this subject that is carried out in the region,” says Margareta Lehmann, Business Area Manager for Incontinence Care at SCA.
Gothenburg, City of Meetings, has had a very successful year, hosting many large congresses and attracting several new meetings to the city.
“The new investments that have been made to increase hotel capacity, are making Gothenburg an attractive choice to a growing number of meeting organisers. We have moved up a level as a City of Meetings,” says Annika Hallman, Meetings Manager at Göteborg & Co.
