Welcome to the ACCESS Assembly, 17 & 18 June 2026

This page will be regularly updated leading up to the event.

Scroll or click the links below to quickly access the information you need.

The ACCESS Assembly is an invite-only, two-day event hosted at the University of Exeter, which brings together around 140 experts from across academic, public, third and private sectors with an interest in environmental social science.

The event has three primary aims:

1. to encourage new thinking about the contribution of the social sciences to tackle environmental problems;
2. to increase connections and network building across boundaries (e.g. career stage, discipline, sector);
3. to embed the ACCESS Guiding Principles, in terms of ensuring the event integrates Environmental Sustainability, the Co-Production of Knowledge, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Last year’s ACCESS Assembly

Assembly Sessions

The Assembly will be held at the University of Exeter’s beautiful Streatham Campus.

The Assembly sessions take place in the Xfi Building, marked as Building 30 on the map below.

All breaks and lunches will be served in this building.

Conference Dinner

The Conference Dinner on the evening of 17 June will be held in the Woodbridge Room at the Grade-II listed Reed Hall.

This is Building 14 on the map.

We will be meeting for pre-dinner drinks on the lawn from 7pm, weather permitting. Dinner will be served from 7.30pm.

Accommodation

Designated accommodation for this year’s Assembly is in Holland Hall, marked as Building 62 on the map.

For more details on Holland Hall, including car parking and check-in and -out times, click here. To make a booking visit here. Don’t forget you can use a special promotion code to get 10% off. Use AA26 (for Assembly attendees only).

If you would prefer to stay elsewhere, please find below a list of alternative hotels in the city centre:

Southernhay House – city centre, boutique hotel
Hotel Indigo – city centre, boutique hotel
Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel  – city centre hotel with pool
Mercure Rougemont – opposite Exeter Central train station
City Gate Hotel – a little different to the bigger hotels
Premier Inn St David’s – budget, handy for main train station
Premier Inn City Centre – budget, handy for city centre

Moving Between Venues

The XFI building (Assembly) and Holland Hall (accommodation) is approx. a 15 minute walk across campus. Then from Holland Hall to Reed Hall (evening meal) it is a short 5 minute stroll.

Most attendees will be staying on campus, so there will be plenty of opportunities to join others to walk between sites.

We will provide a secure, locked room in the Xfi Building where attendees can leave luggage on arrival, prior to checking in at Holland Hall after the last session on Day 1.

If you need assistance with moving between venues, please just let us know.

Virtual Attendance

For those of you attending virtually, you will receive the Zoom link for online sessions closer to the event.

You’ll find directions to the University of Exeter’s Streatham campus here.  

Please click on the Public Transport and Sustainable Travel tabs of that webpage to view further details.

Our Travel Guiding Principles can also help with making sustainable travel choices.

Rail

Exeter St David’s Railway Station is approximately a 15 minute uphill walk from Streatham Campus.

Stagecoach bus number 4 will take you from the train station to the campus. Tickets can be purchased on board the bus and you can either purchase a ticket for a single journey, or a Dayrider ticket, which you can use on any Stagecoach route in Exeter over the course of a day. 

Apple Taxis Exeter (01392 666666) have a taxi rank at the station.

Car parking

Please note that there is very limited parking on campus. Visitors to the university may park in Car Park C, marked on campus map and further details can also be found here, clicking on the Visitor Car Parking tab.

Throughout the Assembly, we will be providing only vegetarian and vegan food each day to reduce our carbon footprint.

You will enjoy:

• a delicious buffet lunch and teas and coffees at the Assembly venue on both days,
• a Conference Dinner at Reed Hall on the evening of Wednesday 17 June, and
• breakfast at the Holland Hall accommodation on Thursday 18 June.

The University Catering and Retail Services Team have a robust sustainability policy, which you can read here.

If you have any allergies or dietary requirements, please let us know through the Assembly Registration Form.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in our Guiding Principles.

We can look to support any accessibility needs (please check our ACCESS Assembly Accessibility Guide to see what we already have in place). 

We have an Equity Fund for those with limited financial means. We can offer to help cover the cost of travel, accommodation and/or other additional out-of-pocket expenses such as childcare. Please let us know on your registration form if you wish to apply for these funds.

For further information contact ACCESS_admin@exeter.ac.uk

Environmental Sustainability is one of our Guiding Principles.

For information on the sustainability of the venues, catering and travel arrangements for the Assembly, please read our ACCESS Assembly Sustainability Guide.

You can also read about the considerations and actions we take into account when planning and hosting events like the Assembly in Activity Matrix 2 (Workshop Events) of our Guiding Principles page.

The ACCESS Assembly is all about relationship building.

But we understand how difficult networking can sometimes feel.

Outside of the sessions, there will be plenty of opportunities to meet other delegates during the long breaks and opportunities for time outdoors.

We also have some ideas of things you can do before the event to make the most of the Assembly and enjoy making meaningful connections with other attendees. See below:

Join the ACCESS Expert Database

Join the ACCESS Expert Database if you haven’t already.

It’s a central hub for environmental social scientists working across academia, policy and the third sector.

The Expert Database will make it easier for you to find the other attendees (and for them to find you).

Ask for an introduction

We’ll be sending out a list of attendees who have opted to share their details before the event. (We’ll ask you when you register if you are happy for your name to be added).

If there are one or two people on the list that you would really like to meet at the Assembly, let us know at: ACCESS_admin@exeter.ac.uk, and one our Leadership Team, will be happy to introduce you.

We look forward to meeting you in June

Please check back here regularly for updates to this page.

And if you have any questions or requirements that are not answered here, please contact us at: ACCESS_admin@exeter.ac.uk, and we’ll be happy to help.