Conferences on Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouses

A brief history

The first International Conference considered to be specific on Aids to Navigation was held in 1929, in London, England. It was “The London International Lighthouse Conference, 1929”.

This Conference was followed by four others, and in 1955, in Hague, Netherlands, members agreed to create the IALA organization. So being, IALA was founded in an event that took place in Paris, France, on July 1^st, 1957.

Since then, International Conferences on Aids to Navigation have been held under the auspices of IALA, initially with a 5-year periodicity, and then, since 1990, every four years, as showed in the table and image below.

The previous Conference, which was in its 19th Edition, was held in 2018, in the city of Incheon, located in the Republic of Korea.

The 20th IALA International Conference will take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2023.

During the Conference, the IALA Council will meet twice, at the beginning and at the end of the event, and there will also be the General Assembly of its Members and the General Assembly of the Industrial Members Committee.

Since the 2014 Conference in La Coruña, Spain, after the creation of IALA-WWA (World-Wide Academy) in 2010, a Pre-Conference Forum is held on the weekend before the Conference date itself, under auspices of the Academy. During this Pre-Conference sessions, the following matters will be presented:
- Capacity Building;
- Training Institutions Accreditation; and
- Education, Training and Personnel Certification.

In addition to the Technical Sessions, which constitute the essence of the Conference, the following complementary, but also relevant, events are traditionally held:
- Welcome Reception;
- Official Conference Dinner;
- Industrial Members Evening (in order to present the typical culture of the Host Country); and
- Gala Dinner.

All IALA Members, as well as other Aids to Navigation Authorities who are not IALA members, are allowed to participate in the Conference.

Host countries and cities which held Conferences