Above all other conferences the DPG working groups are of highest importance for the DPG. They reach out to DPG-members as well as to non-members, touching all fields of plant protection and plant health, i.e. phytomedicine. They are supplemented by project groups within individual working groups that specialize and concentrate on more specific or temporarily limited topics. The meeting language in general is German, but some working groups also use English or have individual presentations in English.

All of us as DPG-members can consider ourselves as lucky and happy for having dedicated colleagues within the DPG who as volunteers organize and manage these working and project groups, and thus forming the backbone of the DPG.

In addition to the working group meetings interdisciplinary conferences in cooperation with other organizations with similar goals are taking place in rising numbers, reflecting an increased specialization of researchers worldwide on single factors in the field of phytomedicine. This trend makes it necessary to find cooperation partners beyond one’s own organization in order to have topics on the agenda of conferences that are not covered by sufficient numbers of experts within ones’ own country.

Such conferences also provide the DPG with an international reputation and a higher awareness of its existence beyond the borders of Germany. They are organized by the DPG executive board and the DPG administrative office.

For these kind of conferences You as DPG-members are the main target audience. In addition the DPG also supports conferences and meetings focusing on topics that are or could be of higher importance for research, consulting, and practice in Germany, or, seen from an ideational perspective, have a positive impact on developmental politics. Such events in general are organized by partner organizations and closely coordinated with DPG supportive activities like sponsoring, organizing parts of the conference, or simply in advertising and informing about the event.

Currently the DPG, together with partner organizations, also is involved in organizing transdisciplinary meetings, targeted at an audience beyond the more narrow community of phytomedicinal experts. They are intended to inform the general public about the contribution of phytomedicinal research in helping to save our basic livelihoods. Such conferences are planned to be held and organized alternately in Germany and abroad, with the DPG being the central organizer for Germany and partner organizations for those in other countries. These kind of conferences (in Germany) as well are organized by the DPG executive board and the DPG administrative office.

Working group meetings, as already mentioned above, are voluntarily organized by our working group leaders. They can be offered without a fee, because DPG partner organizations provide rooms without a charge. All other costs are taken care of by the attending participants. To avoid unforeseen expenses for our working group-heads the risk of such costs are taken care of by all DPG-members via their membership fees. Therefore we are happy about each non-member participant of working group meetings who decides to apply for membership and thus participates in taking the responsibility for the working group.

Inter- and transdisciplinary conference are covered by fees that can, depending on individual financing concepts, vary from 40 to 450 Euros. Fees are calculated in such a way that the risk of financing is taken by the DPG-membership, but on the other hand, because the DPG is a non-profit-organization, will only strive for a small profit margin.

The profit is used to finance the third type of conferences mentioned above. In recent years it enabled the DPG to build up an efficient way of managing small meetings with 50 to 120 participants and organize them for a rather low fee. A well-functioning team guarantees not only the organization of the specific conferences, but also the editing and publishing process of proceedings volumes. In accounting, an individual account for each conference enables individual analysis and evaluation

With your membership fee it is of course you who provides the base for organizing meetings. In return we offer you the option of supporting you in organizing your own meeting and conference. Thus you can host international conferences like COST-Actions, IUFRO- or IOBC-meetings (not only in Germany) without worrying about the “how-to-do-it” – just get in contact with us. One point remains, though: we are bound by our statutes and according to them we can provide this service only to You as a DPG-member – which makes us a one-of-kind service provider compared to all other conference organizers.