Each year, NCSE convenes a topical two-day conference that brings together ~800 scientific, educational, business, civil society, and government professionals from diverse scientific fields and decision-making communities to explore the connections between science and decision-making associated with a particular high profile issue facing society.

At the conference, participants develop recommendations and strategies designed to achieve science-based solutions to problems.Following the conference, the Council:

• produces and disseminates conference recommendations developed by participants;
• publishes the John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture;
• provides briefings to Congress, other institutions, and decision-makers capable of implementing the conference recommendations; and,
• strives to develop or facilitate the development of new programs based on recommendations from the conference.

Goals for the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment:

• Embrace a “solutions” focus for the meeting and its products
• Select conference topics that are major challenges to the entire world and to which science can contribute significantly toward solutions.
• Provide participants a rich “how-to” experience in the integration of environmental science and policy to develop solutions for major environmental challenges facing society.
• Increase the number and diversity of participants at the conference.
• Build on the meeting results in the other NCSE programs
• Integrate Affiliate universities and colleges into the meeting more broadly and encourage them to become a larger part of the implementation of the plans
• Utilize the conference to broaden the network of supporters of NCSE and its programs.