Dear colleagues and friends,

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Granada (Spain), to the 4th International Legume Society Conference, which will be held between the 19th and 22nd of September 2023. This International Conference, which follows our earlier conferences in Novi Sad (2013),Tróia (2016) and Poznan (2019), aims at stimulating knowledge exchange and interactions among researchers and stakeholders interested in promoting greater cultivation and use of grain and forage legumes, as a necessary path towards more sustainable foodand feed systems and healthier diets.

The conference will cover a wide range of topics, organized in the following scientific sessions:

• Legume-based value chains: innovation and optimization.
• Legume-based cropping systems: performance, ecosystem services and profitability.
• Legumes for human and animal nutrition and health.
• Legume biodiversity and genetic resource exploitation.
• Genetics and omics-based legume crop improvement.
• Legume breeding: challenges, tools, strategies andachievements.
• Legume physiology, biochemistry and systems biology.
• Beneficial legume plant-microbe interactions.
• Understanding and enhancing legume crop tolerance to abiotic stresses.
• Understanding and enhancing legume crop tolerance to biotic stresses.

The conference will take place at the Granada Conference and Exhibition Centre, well equipped with the most advanced congress facilities, located in the heart of the city at walking distance to hotels and the monumental city center. Granada is a World Heritage city declared by UNESCO. Besides the world-renowned Alhambra Palace, Granada offers to visitors the beauty of its historic buildings and countless palaces, Arab town houses and gardens. Besides, Granada is close to the National Park of Sierra Nevada and the sunny Tropical Coast.

Recently, Granada has been awarded City of Science and Innovation. The University of Granada, one of the oldest and most prestigious seats for learning in Spain, the Health Science Technological Park, and the presence of several research Institutes from CSIC, result in a fascinating scientific atmosphere to promote and generate knowledge through many different areas, including key aspects focused in sustainable agriculture, nutrition and human health.

We hope this conference will provide a great opportunity for getting back to physical meetings as we used to live in the pre-covid19 age, with a vision for innovation and science-driven socio-economic change that is increasingly needed for more sustainable human development. We hope that you will enjoy not only the scientific program but also the Andalusian hospitality and the social activities that we will organize, to offer you an unforgettable stay in the beautiful city of Granada.