BCS Annual Conference
The in-person, two-day event, has run nearly every year since 1963
The annual conference has run as an in-person event at prestigious venues around the country. In 2023 it was at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, in 2024 at University College, London and in 2025 it was held at the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.
​
The format typically is Day 1 workshops, Special Interest Group meetings and visits to places of particular cartographic note and Day 2 is a conference of speakers and the Annual Awards presentation.
​
The conference proceedings are now recorded and you can view many of the presentations on our YouTube channel​
British Cartographic Society 2026 Annual Conference
at
Registers of Scotland, Meadowbank House, London Road, Edinburgh
(Photo ID required to access building on the day)
​
Date: Tuesday 8th - Wednesday 9th September 2026
Venues: Registers of Scotland and National Library of Scotland (MCG), with a visit to National Centre for Aerial Photography (NCAP)
​​​
A two day event that includes a GeoViz Workshop at Registers of Scotland followed by a visit to the National Centre for Aerial Photography (NCAP) and the Map Curators' (MCG) 60th Anniversary Workshop at the National Library of Scotland (NLS), both on Tuesday 8th September. The main conference, including the BCS Awards ceremony at the Registers of Scotland on Wednesday 9th September.
​
Main Conference: Confirmed Speakers
-
Liam Mason – Senior Geospatial Analyst Scottish Government
-
Kathryn Berger – Lead Data Scientist at Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
-
Mingshu Wang – Convenor Geomatics MSc programme portfolio at the University of Glasgow
-
Bruce Gittings – Senior Lecturer in Geographical Information at University of Edinburgh
-
Lauren Miller – Lecturer in Science and Geospatial Skills, Fife College
-
Alastair Reid - Senior Product Manager of the Mapping Domain at Registers of Scotland
-
Dariusz Wojcik – Provost’s Chair of Financial Geography National University of Singapore, Honorary Research Associate University of Oxford, Lead author of the Atlas of Finance
-
James Cheshire - Professor of Geographic Information & Cartography and Inaugural Director of the UCL Social Data Institute
-
Lyndsey Dougan- leads the Geovation Scotland team and has overarching responsibility for the delivery of Geovation in Scotland.
-
Adam King – CEO of Harvey Maps
​
Locations
​
More details about the locations being used for this year's conference will be available soon
​​​​​​​​​
Detailed Programme
​
British Cartographic Society Annual Conference
at
Registers of Scotland, Meadowbank House, London Road, Edinburgh
(Photo ID required to access building on the day)
Tuesday 8th September 2026
Geoviz Workshop and National Collection of Aerial Photography visit
10.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon Geoviz Workshop at Registers of Scotland Offices – Theme and data to be advised
12.00 noon – 1.00 p.m. Sandwich lunch at RoS,
1.00 p.m. – 2.00 p.m. Travel to NCAP.
2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. Tour of National Collection of Aerial Photography. Limited places
Dinner
Dinner at the Edinburgh Street Food restaurant ten minutes walk from Waverley Station, multiple food outlet options to choose from with each diner making their own food and drink choices and individual payment.
Wednesday 9th September 2026
Provisional Programme (subject to change)
THEME: Education, Economy and Environment – where does cartography fit in?
09.00 - 09:30 Registration and Networking with coffee
09:30 - 09:40 Welcome and format of the day
Session 1: How maps can enhance our understanding of data
09:40 - 10:20 Speakers
10:20 - 11.10 Coffee & Speed Networking - – get to know each other in a semi-formal session, background, employment, career, etc.
Session 2: The use of geospatial technologies and cartography in education
11:10 – 12.10 Speakers
12.10 – 13.00 AWARDS
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch & Networking - Meet our sponsors
Session 3: Mapping and its role in the economy
14.00 – 14.40 Speakers
14.40 – 15.40 Industry insights, opportunities and advice – three way options
1. CV Clinic (BCS Student Members Only)- discussions and advice provided to applicants and by employers
2. Panel session general Q & A “Geography and Cartography – Geofutures Outcomes”
3. Geovation Scotland (funded by RoS) - showcase of early stage start up companies in land, property and location in Scotland
​
Session 4: Leisure, nature and the environment - where maps fit in
15,40 - 16.40 Speakers
16.40– 16.50 Closing Remarks BCS President
​​
Map Curators’ Group 60th Anniversary Workshop Tuesday 8th September
The Map Curators’ Group will celebrate its 60th anniversary by hosting a workshop at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in Edinburgh on Tuesday 8th September, from 10am until 5.30pm.
The morning session will see the group visit the Map Library in the Causewayside building, where there will be opportunity to tour the library facilities, view a collection of early maps of Scotland, and hear about recent work at the library, including its events and digitisation. After a lunch break, we will reconvene at the main NLS building on George IV Bridge for a series of talks. Among these will be a talk in memory of the former long-serving MCG convenor, Ann Sutherland. Ann was a keen advocate of international cooperation within the map library profession, and we hope that this will be the first time of many that we will be able to invite an overseas speaker to an MCG event in this way.
Our inaugural Ann Sutherland Lecture will be given by Marcy Bidney; Assistant University Librarian for Distinctive Collections at the University of Chicago in the United States. Marcy is also chair of the worldwide Map and Geospatial Information Curators Group (MAGIC), and her talk will reflect on Ann Sutherland’s legacy of internationalism, exploring how cross-border collaboration continues to shape professional identity in our field.
The Map Curators Group is open to anyone interested in the preservation, dissemination and use of maps in libraries and archives, and we hope that you will be able to join us for this exciting workshop as we mark our 60th anniversary.​​​​​​​​
​​
​​​​​​​​​Visit to National Centre for Aerial Photography Tuesday 8th September 2pm - 4pm
The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), based in Edinburgh is a part of Historic Environment Scotland. It holds one of the most significant collections of aerial photography in the world with over 30 million images, providing a detailed and unique perspective on key moments in world history dating back over 100 years to 1924 when the oldest images were taken and covering over 170 territories.
The collection has been assembled from multiple sources including British Aerial Survey Firms, DOS. DGC. Allied Central Interpretation Unit, Environment Agency, JARIC, National Archives, NERC and others. The images collected and stored go through a series of processes including collections care, digital imaging, cataloguing and access and data management. And to ensure maximum access for the public, web services have been developed to provide mapping tools to zoom into areas of interest and explore tens of thousands of images.
​
The current modern facility was opened in 2020 for the specialised purpose of managing, digitising and processing millions of historic aerial images with complex collections care needs. Over the coming months a vast collection of already-digitised imagery is to be made available online. This will give users faster and easier access to an unprecedented volume of aerial photography.
​
The tour of the facilities will last approximately two hours and will visit each part of the operation from raw images through to the products and services made available through the website. The highlight will be the pioneering robotic digitisation which it is estimated that using traditional methods of manually scanning of the holdings would take over 300 years. NCAP, implemented using R&D. now utilizes custom-designed robotic "cobots" (collaborative robots) to accelerate the digitization of millions of historical aerial photographs, scanning over 1,500 images daily. This automated system, which operates 24/7, safely handles fragile, large-scale collections, such as the 1.7 million Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS)
