Media attendance

The International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) convenes the world's leading coral reef scientists, managers, and community practitioners every four years. ICRS 2026, hosted in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, from July 19th to 24th, will be the most important week in coral reef science this decade – taking stock of the 4th global bleaching event, showcasing the new generation of reef-scale restoration and technology, and centring Pacific and Indigenous-led stewardship.

The ICRS Media Zone offers accredited journalists access to curated press briefings, giving media direct access to the researchers behind the most interesting newly published or still-in-development coral reef science, and a dedicated media room for interviews and filing. Registered media will also have the ability to tune in to livestreams of the press briefings, for those unable to travel in person, and recordings will be circulated to all registered media who are unable to tune into the livestream due to timezones.

What registered media receive:

• Complimentary media registration (this does not include catering) for the week of the Symposium
• Access to three themed press briefings during the week of July 19th  – Climate Change and Corals (Tue 21 Jul, TBC); Restoration and Innovation (Wed 22 Jul, TBC); Local Action and the Pacific (Thu 23 Jul, TBC).
• A dedicated media room for interviews, writing, and filing, open throughout the week.
• Embargoed press previews circulated two weeks before the symposium.
• Interview-booking support with scientists, panelists, and keynote speakers.
• Access to evening film screenings: Wealth Untold (Mon 20 Jul) and Super Reefs with a live panel featuring Joeli Veitayaki (Wed 22 Jul).

Themes at a glance:

• Climate Change and Corals.
  Hear directly from the scientists behind the most significant coral reef findings of the past four years - from the full scale of the 4th global bleaching event, to the emerging science of resilience and coral reef hope spots that rarely make headlines.
• Restoration and Innovation.
  Get in the room with the researchers pioneering the world’s most innovative coral conservation and restoration approaches - from industrial-scale coral farms to breakthrough recovery technologies - and ask them where the science is really heading.
• Local Action and the Pacific.
  Meet the scientists and community practitioners leading Indigenous and Pacific-centred approaches to reef stewardship, and hear first hand why local action is proving critical to reef survival.