Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Organising Committee of the BBC2022, we have the pleasure and honour of inviting you to the 8^th Balkan Botanical Congress, which will be held for the first time in Athens, Greece, on July 4-8, 2022.

This year, the organisation of the congress is undertaken by the Section of Ecology & Systematics and Section of Botany, Department of Biology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens together with the Hellenic Botanical Society. Different Botanical Institutions from Greek Universities and Public Research Bodies serve as co-organisers. Our aim is to meet and connect with all scientists involved in the research of plant life of the Balkan Peninsula, after a long period of social distancing. Therefore, we are working towards a face-to-face Congress, with due respect to all prevention and control measures of the covid-19 pandemic.

This educative, scientific meeting puts an emphasis on the uniqueness of the Balkan Botany. The rich flora and diverse vegetation serve as a stable ground for research and experimentation and sustains conservation. We hope that the 8^th Balkan Botanical Congress will provide an excellent opportunity to present the latest results and share research experience. In addition, it is the ideal meeting place to network and interact, to develop new or strengthen existing collaborations with colleagues from different countries of the Balkan Region and beyond.

The congress scientific program will include invited lectures, oral and poster presentations, covering various research fields, such as Plant Anatomy and Physiology, Plant Systematics, Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics, Floristics, Vegetation and Phytogeography, Conservation Botany and Plant Invasions, Phytochemistry, Plant Resources and Utilization, Agronomy and Forestry, Botanical Collections and Botanic Gardens, History and Ethnobotany and Cryptogamic Botany.

Athens, the historic capital city of Greece, sets the ideal scenery for the congress, which will be hosted in the central domains of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the oldest in Greece. The university offers contemporary venues of international standards and high-level services.

We are confident that we will deliver an inspiring and memorable event and are looking forward to welcoming you to the 8^th Balkan Botanical Congress in Athens in 2022!

On behalf of the Organizing Committee,

Theophanis Constantinidis	Ioannis-Dimosthenis Adamakis	Panayiotis Dimopoulos
Section of Ecology & Systematics National and Kapodistrian University of Athens	Section of Botany National and Kapodistrian University of Athens	Hellenic Botanical Society