Organising a meeting once every one to two years is the core activity of the Group.
The group started to organize annual meetings in 1995, and has organized following meetings to date.
Click on the links in the text for a full meeting report.
The15th meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in the Palace of Congress of Arcachon, France, from 8-11 January 2013.
The 14th meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in Steinkjer, Norway from 17 – 21 April 2012.
The 13th meeting of the Goose Specialist group was held in Elista, Kalmykia (Russian Federation).
The 12th meeting of the Goose Specialist Group on the expanding goose populations and their management, has been held from 9-14 October 2009 in Höllviken, Sweden.
The 11th meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held from 22-25 May 2008 in Leh, Ladakh, India.
The 10th meeting of the Goose Specialist Group has been held from Friday 26 January till Wednesday 31 January 2007 in Xanten, in the famous German Lower Rhine goose wintering area.
The 9th Goose Specialist Group meeting was held from 5-9 November 2005 in Sopron, Hungary.
The 8th meeting of the Goose Specialist Grouphas been held from 5–10 March 2004 in Odessa, Ukraine. This meeting was attended by 70 people from 16 different countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine). The focus was on the three goose species that winter along the Black Sea coast; Greater White-fronted Geese, Red-breasted Geese and Greylag Geese.
The 7th annual meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in the Cota Doñana in Southern Spain from 14–17 December 2002. It focused on Greylag Geese, that numbered 60,000 in the Coto Doñana during the meeting, which was attended by 92 participants from 28 different countries. The other main topic of that conference was the impact of hunting on goose populations.
6th annual meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in Roosta Estonia in April/May 2001. The proceedings of that conference have been edited by Ian Patterson and printed by the Environmental Protection Institute of the Estonian Agricultural University, and distributed to all participants. A limited number of printed copies is still available.
The 5th annual meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was organised by the Belgian Institute for Nature Conservation in De Haan, Belgium in January 2000.
The 4th annual meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in January 1999 in Matsushima Bay, Japan to focus on the goose populations from East Asia, and again on the Lesser White-fronted Goose. In contrast to the generally thriving goose populations in North America and Europe, the East Asian populations are still low in number.
3rd Symposium
Kavarna, Bulgaria Feburary 1998
The 3rd annual meeting of the Goose Specialist Group in Kavarna (Bulgaria) from 5-8 February 1998 was attended by 58 people from 17 countries. This meeting focused on Red-breasted Geese and Lesser White-fronted Geese.
2nd Symposium
Matin Mere, England, December 1996
The 2nd meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in Martin Mere (England) in December 1996.
1st Symposium
Poland, November 1995
The 1st meeting of the Goose Specialist Group was held in Poland and attended by 70 people from 22 different countries.