Congress News

The Educational Programme of the 21st Congress of ECCO will commence prior to the official start of the ECCO Congress, and courses will take place from February 18 to 20, 2026.

At the 21st Congress of ECCO in Stockholm, the Nurses of ECCO (N-ECCO) will host the educational activity for IBD Nurses, N-ECCO School, for the 17th time. ECCO intends to give nurses, who might be still in training and have an interest in IBD, the possibility to attend an IBD-focused course. The ultimate aim of this programme is to improve nurse education throughout Europe.

The 24th ECCO IBD Intensive Course for Trainees designed for residents, fellows in gastroenterology and junior faculty will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 18, 2026, immediately prior to our next Congress. We are pleased to inform you that the preliminary programme for this course is already available. Since ECCO wants to make the course as attractive as possible for participants, we limit the general number of participants for each ECCO Member Country to two, which will ensure a more interactive atmosphere. Three seats will be open for countries with a population of over...

Dear Y-ECCO Friends, As the days are getting longer and spring has sprung in earnest, the ECCO Congress may feel like a distant memory. However, it is not long until the abstract submission window for ECCO 2026 in Stockholm opens. “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late”, so why delay? As Y-ECCO Members, do remember that you are eligible to apply for the Best Abstract Award, so make sure your membership is up to date and get your research ready for the 2026 ECCO Congress.

The 20th Congress of ECCO, Berlin, Germany – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2025, held on February 19-22, 2025, attracted a total number of 8,311 delegates from 99 different countries. Since the inaugural ECCO Congress in 2006 in Amsterdam, at which there were 350 delegates, participant numbers have steadily increased, as shown in the graph below. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak in the beginning of 2020, we are happy that this high number of delegates had the chance to participate in the ECCO’25 Congress in Berlin.

Dear IBD colleagues, dear ECCO friends and family, I hope everyone is keeping well and looking forward to all the exciting opportunities and offers that ECCO has in store for the rest of the year! But first let me bring you back to our flagship event, the ECCO Congress which took place in Berlin, February 19 - 22, earlier this year.

Dear ECCO friends, Welcome to the first edition of ECCO News for 2025! We hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving as we embark on another exciting year for the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. We were thrilled to reconnect with so many of you at the recent ECCO congress in Berlin, which proved to be a remarkable gathering filled with insightful discussions.

Dear Alessandro, Congratulations again on your election as the new President-Elect of ECCO. Dear friends and colleagues, Thank you very much for your kind congratulations on my election as the new President-Elect of ECCO. It is a tremendous honour and responsibility, and I look forward to working closely with all of you to advance the mission and impact of ECCO in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) arena.

Congratulations to the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants awarded at ECCO’25 in snowy Berlin this year. ECCO is investing up to EUR 1.8 million in scientific research. Learn more here about the new projects that will be supported by ECCO in 2025. At ECCO’25, Berlin, the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants programme received their certificates, presented by Fernando Magro together with Britta Siegmund.

Two studies received Best Investigator-Initiated Study Awards at ECCO’25. The first study, entitled “Low remission recapture after ustekinumab dose optimization in Crohn’s disease: results of the randomized placebo-controlled double-blind REScUE study”, was led by Peter Bossuyt and colleagues from Belgium.

A total of 130 abstracts focused on epidemiology were selected for presentation at the 2025 ECCO Congress, the highest number submitted in this category in recent years. This growth underscores the importance that ECCO Members and IBD researchers place on epidemiology in deepening our understanding of IBD aetiology, management and outcomes. In this article, we spotlight some of the most noteworthy abstracts that stood out to us during the recent ECCO Congress in Berlin (see graph).

The 12th ECCO Ultrasound Workshop – Advanced, organised in collaboration with ESGAR and IBUS, took place during the 20th Congress of ECCO in Berlin in February 2025 as part of ECCO's Educational Programme. The workshop was attended by 166 participants and brought together experts from various countries, facilitating valuable discussions on the latest advancements in intestinal ultrasound (IUS) for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Ultrasound and MRI Focus The 6th ECCO Workshop on Imaging, a key part of ECCO's Educational Programme, took place during the 20th Congress of ECCO in Berlin in February 2025. Due to high interest, two identical sessions were held on the same day, allowing more participants to take part in this hands-on learning course. We thank all the speakers and tutors, whose expertise and dedication contributed to the success of the event.

The 4th ECCO Postgraduate Course in IBD was successfully held on-site during the 20th ECCO Congress in Berlin in February 2025. The course was split into two sessions, with the first session, entitled “Prepare yourself with the experts”, focusing on common complications in IBD practice, which were presented by renowned speakers who are key opinion leaders in the field.

The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO), in collaboration with the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR), the European Society of Pathology (ESP) and the International Bowel Ultrasonography Group (IBUS), has released an updated version of its multi-society guidelines on the diagnostics and monitoring of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

The 16th edition of the N-ECCO School and the 19th edition of the N-ECCO Network Meeting took place during the 20th Congress of ECCO, held from February 19 to 22 in a cold but sunny Berlin. The N-ECCO School gives nurses and dietitians the opportunity to increase their basic knowledge in IBD, while the N-ECCO Network Meeting provides an overview of new insights in IBD care, presented by a mix of excellent speakers.

We were in Berlin for the 10th D-ECCO Workshop! The workshop was full, with our largest attendance to date – 194 participants, including not only dietitians but also a great mix of specialists from all over the world. I, Chen Sarbagili (the Netherlands), opened the workshop by informing participants that the ECCO Consensus on Diet and Nutrition in IBD would be presented for the first time during this ECCO’s plenary session, as well as by presenting the various opportunities available to all IBD Dietitian Members, including the D-ECCO Grant and the D-ECCO Travel Award.

The 23rd ECCO IBD Intensive Course for Trainees took place on February 19, 2025, setting the scene for the 20th ECCO Congress in Berlin. It may have been cold outside, but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants or the engagement of the expert ECCO Faculty. A total of 100 participants from 36 countries were in attendance and this year we again welcomed participants not only from European ECCO Country Members but also from Latin America, Asia and Australia.

At the 20th Congress of ECCO, held in Berlin, Germany from February 19 to 22, 2025, we organised the 10th H-ECCO IBD Masterclass. The aims of our meeting were to discuss the histopathological aspects of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), to highlight the multidisciplinary approach to the diagnostic process – also illustrated by the similar number of pathologists and gastroenterologists in the audience – and to look towards the future.

The 11th edition of the Y-ECCO Science Workshop took place during the ECCO Congress in Berlin on February 19 , 2025, providing a platform for early-career basic and translational scientists to present and discuss research with peers and senior experts. The event fostered an intellectually stimulating environment, encouraging participants to expand their knowledge and engage in advanced research challenges.